University  of  California  •  Berkeley 


(A  Traced/) 

V   '  ft\ 


CHRISTOPHE 


A  TRAGEDY  IN  PROSE 

OF 

IMPERIAL  HAITI 


BY 

WILLIAM  EDGAR  EASTON 
Author  of  "Dessaline*,"  etc. 


Illustrated  by  John  McCullough 


Copyrighted,  All  Playing  Rights  Reserved 
1911 


Press  Grafton  Publishing  Company 
Los  Angeles,  California 


Copyright, 


All  Rights  Reserved, 
19H. 


KING   HENRI    CHRISTOPHE 


MISS    HENRIETTA   VINTON    DAVIS,   TRAGEDIENNE 
Interpretation  of  Pere   L'Avenge. 


CHRISTOPHE 

A  TRAGEDY  IN  HAITI 
By  WILLIAM  EDGAR  EASTON 

-     -     -     Dramatis  Personae    -    -     - 

Christophe Emperor  and  Suicide 

Dessalines Emperor  Assassinated 

Dubois General  and  Intimate  of  Christophe 

Alphonse  De  Pays Soldier  and  Avenger 

Antoine Tavern-Keeper 

Amede Lover  of  Valerie 

Jacques Afterward  the  Chevalier,  Egotist 

Pierre General  and  True  Friend  of  Christophe 

Labille General 

Claudaine General 

Valerie Afterward  False  Priest  and  Avenger 

Pere  L'  Avenge 

La  Belle Ballet  Dancer 

Mamam Mother  of  Jacques 

Susanne Wife  of  Jacques 

Officers,  Soldiers,  Dancers,  Secretaries  and  Sentinels 


11 

770121 


ARGUMENT  OF  THE  RAY 


ACT  I. — Dessalines  '  '  ,  had  himself  proclaimed 
Emperor,  and  thereby  \  '  .  awakened  the  strong,  but 
not  open  enemity,  of  CHRiSTOPHE,  who  had  been 
his  comrade  in  arms,  during  and  after  the  Revolution- 
ary war  of  Toussaint  L'  Ouverture.  The  date  of  this 
Act  is  1806,  at  Port  au  Prince,  Haiti.  It  is  the  occa- 
sion of  the  repeal  of  the  Constitution  L'  Ouverture,  the 
Republic,  and  the  strengthening  of  the  autocratic  gov- 
ernment of  Dessalines.  The  incidents  of  this  Act  are 
the  arrest  of  Amede,  which  proves  to  be  his  final  dis- 
appearance ;  the  assassination  of  Dessalines  at  the 
hands  of  the  misinformed  Alphonse  de  Pays,  at  the 
instigation  of  Christophe  and  Dubois.  Christophe  de- 
clared Emperor. 

ACT  II. — Scene  in  Cape  Francois,  year  1811.  Inci- 
dents :  The  conspiracy  to  destroy  and  overthrow  the 
government  of  Christophe.  Valerie,  the  former  sweet- 
heart of  Amede,  who  was  assassinated,  now  appears 
disguised  as  the  Priest  Pere  L' Avenge;  she  becomes 
the  confidant  of  Christophe  with  the  intention  of  lead- 
ing him  to  his  destruction,  in  order  to  avenge  the  death 
of  her  sweetheart.  Alphonse  de  Pays  joins  her  in 
order  to  avenge  the  betrayal  and  death  of  Paula.  The 
story  of  how  far  the  Revolution  goes  on  to  despoil  and 
overthrow  Christophe.  Pere  L'  Avenge  rescues  Al- 
phonse de  Pays  from  the  mob,  who  recognizes  in  him 

13 


the  assassin  of  Dessalines  whom  the  people  of  Haiti 
dearly  love. 


ACT  lII.rt-SeLvetl  years  follow,  1818,  Petion  having 
died  Boyer  becomes  the  advancing  victor.  Camp  of 
the  sorely  beset  troops  of  Christophe.  Dubois  dis- 
heartened; Christophe  desperate;  reports  of  most  des- 
perate straits  by  Generals  Pierre,  Labille  and  Claudaine. 
Pere  L'  Avenge  brings  false  news,  and  thereby  betrays 
Christophe  and  his  sorely  wounded  and  fatigued 
troops  into  an  ambuscade.  Dubois  fights  a  deadly  duel 
with  Alphonse  de  Pays,  both  slain.  Pere  L'  Avenge  or 
Valerie  predicts  her  own  death,  and  that  of  Chris- 
tophe. 

ACT  IV.  —  Christophe  and  the  remnant  of  his  troops 
at  Sans  Souci,  supposedly  impregnable  —  a  veritable 
Gibraltar.  Pere  L'  Avenge  who  has  the  secret  of  the 
exit  and  entrance  tunnel  of  the  Palace,  and  having 
betrayed  the  secret  to  the  enemy,  awaits  their  coming. 
In  a  spirit  of  bravado,  Christophe  has  his  players  give 
the  ballet  of  the  Sirens,  and  the  Feast  of  Glory,  as  he 
boastfully  calls  it.  At  the  height  of  the  revelry, 
news  comes  that  the  enemy  have  penetrated  the  outer 
court  of  the  Palace  ;  the  revelers  disperse  in  fright  and 
confusion  ;  the  soldiers  withdraw  to  build  barricades. 
Christophe,  being  alone  with  his  favorite  general,  says 
to  Pierre,  "Slay  me  with  my  own  sword  that  I  may 
not  fall  into  the  hands  of  my  enemy."  Pierre  finally 
flees  from  him,  crying  :  "Not  by  my  hand  !"  Enter 
Pere  L'  Avenge,  his  diabolic  plan  of  vengeance  demands 
the  Soul  of  Christophe,  as  well  as  his  earthly  over- 
throw. Christophe  implores  Pere  L'  Avenge  to  take 
the  sword  and  by  thrusting  him  through,  let  him  die 
a  soldier's  death;  Pere  L'  Avenge  prevails  on  Chris- 

14 


tophe  to  die  a  suicide.  In  Christophe's  death  agony, 
Pere  L'  Avenge  discloses  his  identity;  upbraids  and 
reviles  him.  The  dying  man  summons  sufficient 
strength  to  thrust  Pere  L'  Avenge  through.  Both 
falling  dead  at  the  same  time.  In  luminous  lettering: 
"VENGEANCE  IS  MINE;  I  WILL  REPAY,"  ap- 
pears above.  Enter  victors  crying :  "Boyer !  Boyer !" 
and  "Vive  la  Republique  d'Haiti !"  "Dieu  et  mon 
Epee !" 

CURTAIN 


15 


The  Prologue 


("Marseillaise,  pianissimo.  Enter  Jacques  and  An- 
toine.) 

ANTOINE 
Liberty !   Is  it  not  good  ? 

JACQUES 

"It  is  better  than  "chains,  gyve  and  goad."  It  is 
best  of  all;  both  for  the  free  and  freed.  It  is  in  the 
air;  it  is  everywhere. 

ANTOINE 

Liberty,  to  be  loved  and  defended  most,  must  be 
won,  not  given  or  received  as  one  would  give  or  receive 
a  mere  bauble. 

JACQUES 

On  many  a  gory  battlefield  Haitiens  won  their  lib- 
erty ;  they  but  regained  an  inherent  right. 

ANTOINE 

And  how  sorely  beset  we  may  be,  we  shall  always 
remember,  "God  and  my  Sword." 

JACQUES 

Look!  at  times  it  grows  dark. 
16 


ANTOINE 

Fear  not ;  it  will  grow  Light  again. 
(Scene  darkened.     Enter  Man;  "lash  and  shackle 
and  gyve  and  goad,"  just  cast  aside.) 

(Scene  light.) 

MAN  RECITES: 

AFRJCANUS  TRIUMPHANS 

Inscribed  to  William  Edgar  Easton  by  John  S.  Mc- 

Groarty,  Poet-Editor  of  Los  Angeles  Daily 

Times,    West  Coast  Magazine. 


When,  out  of  the  chaos,  earth  was  hurled, 

And  God's  great  mandate  spread ; 
When  he  made  the  races  to  fill  the  world — 

Yellow  and  white  and  red — 
There  was  one  made  black,  and  the  other  three 

Seeing  him,  asked  to  know 
Whence,  from  what  darkness  cometh  he  ? 

And  whither  does  he  go? 

And  the  black  man  said  God  made  us  free, 

White  and  black  men  all, 
Yellow  or  red,  whichever  we  be, 

There  shall  be  no  bond  or  thrall ; 
But  they  said  his  lips  had  spoken  lies, 

For  the  brand  was  on  his  cheek, 
And  they  dulled  their  ears  to  his  children's  cries, 

And  the  word  his  tongue  would  speak. 

17 


So,  through  the  centuries  hath  he  borne, 

With  shoulders  bowed  to  the  wheel, 
The  whole  world's  burdens  and  its  scorn — 

Its  bloodhounds  at  his  heel. 
Bound  he  stood  in  the  palace  hall, 

He  was  chained  in  the  galleyed  ships, 
Yet,  with  deathless  courage  he  braved  it  all, 

With  the  challenge  upon  his  lips. 

Out  from  the  ages,  stained  and  dim 

With  curse  and  wrong  and  hate, 
He  comes  with  the  patient  heart  of  him 

Unbent  of  Time  or  Fate. 
Lash  and  shackle  and  gyve  and  goad 

He  bore  through  grief  and  dole, 
Yet  stands  at  last,  from  the  weary  load, 

Erect  with  dauntless  soul. 

There  was  never  an  hour  of  the  countless  years 

When  the  Slavers'  white  sail  gleaned, 
But  through  the  rain  of  his  blood  and  tears, 

Of  his  birthright  still  he  dreamed; 
There  was  never  a  night  of  gloom  and  pain 

But  brought  him  its  hope  of  morn, 
With  the  vision  of  Liberty  dawned  again, 

And  the  freedom  he  lost,  new  born. 

He  comes  with  his  glory  from  wars  of  death 

For  the  flag  that  made  him  free, 
He  comes  from  the  cannon's  thundrous  breath 

That  he  faced  all  fearlessly ; 
He  comes  with  the  songs  his  poets  sing, 

With  the  pictures  his  painters  drew, 
With  the  music  the  tongues  of  his  pleaders  ring, 

And  the  things  that  his  hands  can  do. 

18 


He  comes,  my  brother,  whoever  you  be — 

Yellow,  or  white,  or  red — 
In  the  fair,  full  light  of  his  destiny, 

With  the  word  that,  of  old,  he  said. 
Gentle  and  patient  and  brave  and  strong, 

With  the  faith  of  his  soul  unworn, 
And  the  time  is  past  for  shackle  and  thong, 

And  the  time  is  past  for  scorn. 

O  olden  race  of  the  jungle  and  hill, 

O  olden  race  and  strong, 
Brave  be  your  hearts  with  the  challenge  still, 

And  glad  be  your  lips  with  song. 
Look  up  to  the  glory  that  flames  the  skies, 

The  gloom  of  the  night  is  done ; 
Oh,  shout  to  the  morning  with  victor  cries, 

For  the  long,  hard  fight  is  won ! 

CURTAIN 


19 


Christophe 


ACT  I 

SCENE:  GARDEN  OF  FLOWERS.  Govern- 
ment buildings  in  distance.  Time,  evening.  Colored 
lights,  bunting  and  National  flags.  Throne,  small  table 
and  chairs.  One  long  table,  upon  which  are  quills, 
inkstand  and  papers.  At  opening  of  the  Act,  Jacques 
and  Mamam  are  busily  engaged  arranging  cups  and 
saucers  upon  tables. 

JACQUES 

Again  I  tell  you  Mamam,  I  will  be  pleased  with  noth- 
ing less  than  a  marquis !  Why,  there  is  Pierre ;  Dessa- 
lines  made  him  a  Due — Due  de  la  Fer — Ha !  ha ! 

MAMAM 
Fool ! 

JACQUES 

Well,  I  will  not  be  the  only  fool  with  a  title  on  this 
Island. 

MAMAM 

Let  me  tell  you,  Jacques,  there  will  be  a  great  tumb- 
ling of  titled  gentry  on  this  Island.  Look  to  it  that 
you  are  not  one  of  them. 

JACQUES 

Fear  not  for  me,  good  mother,  I  was  never  cut  out 
for  a  waiter  in  a  public  garden.  By  Susanne,  I  will 


be  nothing  less  than  a  vicomte.  (Shouts  and  laughter 
from  without.)  Ah,  here  come  the  good  people  to 
celebrate  the  new  Constitution  of  Dessalines,  our  Em- 
peror. (Entering  people  laughing  and  crying:  "Vive 
I'Empereur!"  Seat  themselves  at  tables.) 

ANTOINE 

Here,  you  sweet  ambling  donkey,  brandy  for  all  of 
us !  We  drink  to  the  health  of  the  new  Empire !  Is 
it  not  so  mes  comrades  ? 

OMNES 
Ay,  ay,  the  new  Empire ! 

ALPHONSE  DE  PAYS 

(Arising,  and  staggering  to  his  feet.)  To  the  devil 
with  your  New  Empire  ! 

OMNES 
What! 

JACQUES 

Treason ! 

OMNES 

Good! 

ALPHONSE  DE  PAYS 

No,  brandy,  you  scullions — and  be  quick  about  it ! 

JACQUES 

Monsieur,  I  do  not  know  your  title — pardon  me — 
your  name;  but  the  brandy  here  is  furnished  by  the 
Commissaire,  only  to  be  drunk  to  the  health  of  the  new 
Empire. 

OMNES 

Good! 

21 


ANTOINE 


(Slapping  Jacques  on  the  shoulder.)     Good,  noble 
youth !    Remember  that  I  am  behind  you. 

ALPHONSE  DE  PAYS 

Enough!      Here    is    a    golden    louis.      Bring    me 
brandy ;  brandy  for  all ! 

JACQUES 
Sir,  I  am  above  the  bribe. 

OMNES 
Good! 

ANTOINE 

Brave  garcon ! 

JACQUES 

Monsieur,  if  you  will  permit  me,  you  can  drink  here, 
only  to  the  health  of  the  new  Empire. 

ANTOINE 
With  marked  deference. 

JACQUES 
With  profound  deference. 

ALPHONSE  DE  PAYS 

C'est  bien — Brandy  for  all!     (Jacques  fills  glasses.) 

JACQUES 
The  toast,  Monsieur. 

OMNES 
Ay  !  ay !  the  toast ! 

22 


ALPHONSE  DE  PAYS 

Ay!  the  toast;  to  the  devil  with  your  new  Empire! 
JACQUES 

Seize  him,  the  traitor!  (Men  rush  forward;  Al- 
phonse  draws  his  sword ;  enter  Christophe  and  Dubois.) 

ALPHONSE  DE  PAYS 

Come  on,  you  brutes !  I  will  spit  every  one  of  you 
on  this  good  steel  of  mine ! 

CHRISTOPHE 

What  means  this  riot?  Sheathe  your  sword,  and 
back  to  your  accustomed  trades  ! 

JACQUES 

But  this  man,  General,  he  dared  drink  perdition  to 
his  gracious  Majesty,  the  Emperor! 

MAMAM 

(Aside.)  The  numbskull!  Does  he  not  know  that 
Christophe  hates  Dessalines,  worse  than  the  devil  hates 
holy-water  ? 

CHRISTOPHE 

(Aside.)  Gracious  majesty!  (Aloud.)  Sir,  do 
you  know  the  enormity  of  your  offense  in  the  sight  of 
these  good  people?  (Aside.)  Dubois,  you  take  this 
man  aside ;  we  may  need  him  this  very  day.  (Aloud.) 
Now,  good  people,  let  us  drink  to  the  prosperity  and 
freedom  of  our  beloved  Haiti !  Yes,  the  freedom  of 
our  Country!  (While  all  drink,  Alphonse  and  Dubois 
retire  to  the  rear,  and  engage  in  conversation.  Chris- 
tophe strolls  about  and  kindly  greets  the  people.  En- 
ter Amede  and  Valerie,  the  latter  clinging  to  the  for- 
mer.) 

23 


VALERIE 

Ah,  my  Amede,  it  was  such  a  sad  dream ;  at  my  feet 
the  billowing  waves  washed,  and  the  roaring  of  the 
waters  so  affrighted  me,  that  I  clung  frantically  to 
you.  It  seemed  to  me,  that  we  could  not  escape  the 
angry  waves.  But  it  was  not  for  myself,  dearest,  I 
feared ;  it  was  for  you ;  I  clung  to  you  only,  that  you 
should  not  be  lost  to  me.  But,  a  great  wave  came, 
and  quite  engulfed  us ;  you  were  borne  out  upon  the 
troubled  waters,  and  I — I  was  left  standing  desolate 
and  alone  upon  the  gleaming  sands.  And  though  the 
waves  hid  you  from  my  tearful  sight,  I  could  hear 
your  loved  voice  loud  and  clear  as  the  vespers  bell, 
crying,  "O  Valerie,  I  die,  but  if  you  would  meet  with 
me  again,  where  there  is  no  parting,  Avenge  my 
death!" 

AMEDE 

Nothing  but  a  dream,  dearest,  nothing  but  a  dream ; 
one  of  those  strange  phantasies  that  should  leave  no  un- 
rest behind. 

VALERIE 

But  this  was  not  all.  A  great  shadow  hid  the  angry 
sea,  a  glorious  light  fell  upon  me.  It  appeared  that 
I  was  changed  from  a  weak  and  trembling  woman,  to  a 
strong  angry  man ;  and  what  was  most  fearful  of  all, 
I, — I  lived  to  avenge  your  wrongs. 

AMEDE 

Ha !  ha !  Away  with  those  gloomy  thoughts ! 
Never  was  life  more  promising  for  us.  Peace  now 
reigns  in  Haiti,  and  beneath  its  wave,  prosperity  will 
be  nursed  back  to  life  again.  Remember,  too,  dearest, 
that  Dessalines  is  now  upon  the  throne,  and  we — we 

^ 


will  soon  be  man  and  wife — no,  we  will  always  be 
sweethearts.     Ha !  ha !  little  one,  I  have  you  there. 

VALERIE 

Ah,  perhaps,  let  us  hope  all  will  be  well.  But  my 
thoughts  will  wing  their  dismal  flights,  and  premoni- 
tions are  strong  upon  me. 

AMEDE 

Look  into  my  eyes,  fond  one,  and  see  how  they  fairly 
swim  on  seas  of  hope !  Our  friend  has  been  crowned 
Emperor  and  all  should  be  joy  and  gayety.  Ah,  I  see 
Lucille !  She  has  espied  you — over  to  her  side,  you 
will  forget  unprofitable  forebodings,  and  I  will  chat 
with  my  oldtime  friend  Antoine.  (Amede  and  Valerie 
part  and  go  to  opposite  sides.  Dubois  and  Alphonse 
seated  at  remote  table.  Amede's  attention  attracted  by 
conversation,  he  pauses  back  of  them,  where  he  is  not 
noticed.) 

DUBOIS 

This  is  then  your  final  answer  ? 

ALPHONSE  DE  PAYS 

I  am  a  soldier,  my  General,  this  would  be  murder. 
Tell  me  to  face  a  score  of  blades,  and  I  will  spit  or  be 
spitted ;  but  to  kill  an  unarmed  man.  Bish !  this  is  no 
work  for  me. 

DUBOIS 

For  you  all  things.  You  forget!  Who  was  it  de- 
creed the  death  of  your  old  father  ?  Who  was  it  caused 
your  venerated  mother  to  die  of  a  broken  heart  ?  Who 
was  it  that  drove  you  from  your  estates?  Who  now 
seeks  your  life?  You  are  not  to  be  imprisoned,  not 
tried,  but  to  be  shot  down  at  sight,  like  a  dog. 

25 


ALPHONSE  DE  PAYS 

Ay,  ay,  General,  these  things  have  embittered  my 
life,  made  me  what  I  am,  a  reckless  blade.  But — 

DUBOIS 
Ah  !  you  have  scruples  ?  brigand  ! 

ALPHONSE  DE  PAYS 

I  am  still  a  man — 

DUBOIS 
Who  dare  not  avenge  his  wrongs. 

ALPHONSE  DE  PAYS 

Who  will  not  murder. 

DUBOIS 

Listen!  You  remember  the  beautiful  Paula — Ah, 
you  start !  Let  me  be  plain — she  became  the  mistress 
of— 

ALPHONSE  DE  PAYS 

(Arising  sword  in  hand.)  You  LIE!  Repeat  the 
infamy,  and  you  die ! 

DUBOIS 

It  is  well,  you  will  not  slay  a  woman,  you  are  too 
brave  for  that.  Go,  go,  question  that  old  woman  yon- 
der; (Points  to  Mamam)  she  will  tell  you  where  to 
find  Paula's  grave. 

ALPHONSE  DE  PAYS 

Paula's  grave!     (Rushes  toward  Mamam.) 
26 


DUBOIS 

Ha  !  ha !  Go  to  that  grave ;  and  your  thoughts  will 
shape  themselves  into  deeds  worthy  a  brigand.  (Du- 
bois  turning  suddenly,  sees  the  look  of  horror  on 
Amede's  face.)  You  heard? 

AMEDE 
God  help  me !  I  heard. 

DUBOIS 

Guard,  (Consternation  among  the  people)  arrest  this 
man,  and  hold  him  incommunicado ! 

AMEDE 

Why  my  arrest?  I  have  committed  no  crime.  Of 
what  am  I  accused  ? 

DUBOIS 

You  are  accused  of  hearing  too  much.  Guard,  your 
duty! 

VALERIE 

(Rushing  between  Amede  and  Guard.)  Oh,  do  not 
arrest  this  man,  without  a  hearing !  He  can  be  guilty 
of  no  crime.  Is  it  not  so  my  Amede?  Do  you  not 
love  these  people?  Would  you  not  die  for  this  Gov- 
ernment? Oh!  messieurs,  be  kind,  my  good  people. 
Though  you  be  a  Mulatre,  speak  my  Amede,  tell  these 
good  people,  you  are  their  friend.  Indeed !  indeed !  is 
not  Amede,  the  trusted  friend  of  Dessalines  ? 

DUBOIS 

I  do  not  know  you.  By  what  right  do  you  give  evi- 
dence for  this  man's  loyalty? 

27 


VALERIE 

The  right  that  every  woman  has,  to  speak  a  good 
word  for  her  betrothed.  (Bugle  from  without.  Guard 
hurries  out  Amede  accompanied  by  Valerie.  People 
cry:  "Vive  1'Empereur!"  Dessalines  enters  with 
Court.  At  foot  of  the  throne  Dessalines  pauses.) 

DESSALINES 

Kind  friends,  we  rejoice  that  peace  reigns  through- 
out Haiti,  our  angry  steel  having  vanquished  our  foe, 
with  the  pen  we  will  give  Haitians  a  Constitution 
worthy  of  a  self-freed  people.  (Seated  on  throne.) 
Such  a  Constitution  must  be  warm  as  the  mid-day  suri ; 
it  must  breathe  the  air  of  our  Afric  sires;  it  must 
coddle  the  hearts  of  Haitians ;  it  must  burn  the  brain 
of  Frenchmen.  Ah,  we  will  take  for  our  inkstand  a 
Frenchman's  skull,  for  our  parchment  his  skin;  for 
our  ink  his  blood,  and  write  the  Constitution  with  our 
bayonets.  In  such  a  manner  should  the  Constitution 
of  our  Country  be  written.  (Secretaries  proceed  to 
write.  Christophe  and  Dubois  stand  to  right  of  throne, 
heads  covered.) 

DESSALINES 

General  Christophe,  you  forget ! 

CHRISTOPHE 

General. 

DESSALINES 

What! 

DUBOIS 

For  both  of  us:  Your  Imperial  Majesty.  (Chris- 
tophe and  Dubois  uncover.) 

23 


FIRST  SECRETARY 

Your  Majesty,  shall  the  Constitution  permit  a 
Frenchman  to  own  land  in  Haiti  ? 

DESSALINES 

Yes !  So  write  it  in  the  Constitution — a  Frenchman 
can  own  no  more,  no  less,  than  six  feet  of  earth. 

OMNES 

Great  Dessalines ! 

DESSALINES 

General  Christophe,  it  is  close  a  fortnight  on.  that 
I  gave  orders  that  Cape  Francois  be  cleared  of  the 
mulatres.  How  have  my  orders  been  obeyed? 

CHRISTOPHE 

If  it  pleased  your  Majesty,  I  have  proclaimed  ex- 
tended time,  so  in  their  haste  they  would  not  leave  all 
behind. 

DESSALINES 

Were  these  my  orders  ? 

CHRISTOPHE 

Your  majesty,  they  were  not  your  orders. 

DESSALINES 

Were  not  my  orders — and  you  dare  stand  there,  and 
prate  your  disobedience  of  my  imperial  will? 

CHRISTOPHE 

When  you  saw  fit  to  make  me  Prince,  and  place  me 
at  the  head  of  the  army,  methought  in  emergencies  such 
as  these,  I  had  the  right  to  make  terms  for  more  thor- 
ough service. 

29 


DESSALINES 

You,  you,  head  of  the  army !  Presumption,  this ! 
You,  Prince  !  Ha !  ha !  Yes,  a  puppet  of  my  whims  ! 
By  terms  of  mine  you  live,  by  mine  you  die ! 

CHRISTOPHE 

(Covering  his  head  and  advancing.)  Now,  it  is  you 
that  forget, — you  forget, — forget  that  I,  too,  fought 
for  Liberty.  I  was  your  comrade  in  arms;  I  helped 
make  these  people  free !  free !  not  to  be  slaves  to  your 
imperial  will,  not.  to  bend  nor  cringe  to  any  power  on 
earth,  in  hell  or  in  Heaven ! 

DESSALINES 

(Arising  in  great  perturbation.)  Conspiracy,  re- 
volt !  treason  !  This  to  me — to  me  ! 

DUBOIS 

Audience,  audience,  great  Dessalines,  for  the  old 
soldier ! 

OMNES 

Audience,  audience,  Great  Dessalines,  for  the  old 
soldier ! 

DESSALINES 

All  ready;  have  you  made  your  friends?  Ah,  'tis 
well !  Retire  all,  with  my  permission,  out  of  hearing. 
I  will  speak  to  this  old  soldier  of  yours,  and  perchance, 
he  will  make  a  better  subject.  (All  retire  except 
Dessalines  and  Christophe.) 

DESSALINES 

Christophe ! 

30 


CHRISTOPHE 

Dessalines ! 

DESSALINES 

Two  names  Haitians  love,  two  names  that  should  be 
linked  inseperably  in  friendship. 

CHRISTOPHE 
And  so  they  are  by  ties  of  blood. 

DESSALINES 

They  are  not ! 

CHRISTOPHE 

To  me  they  are. 

DESSALINES 

To  you — they  are  not ! 

CHRISTOPHE 

Again,  I  say  to — 

DESSALINES 

Again,  to  you  I  say,  you  lie ! 

CHRISTOPHE 

(Sword  half  drawn.)     Ah! 

DESSALINES 

It  is  not  your  sword  I  fear.  I  will  be  plain  with  you, 
I  will  speak  so  an  infant  can  understand.  It  was  at 
Trianon,  methinks,  you  sought  to  divide  in  double 
sovereignty  this  Island.  For  me,  the  West,  you  said; 
for  you,  the  East.  I  would  not  consent  to  this;  but 
I  forced  you  to  confess  that  I  was  the  senior  officer, 

31 


and  at  Trianon,  Neybra,  Lacroix,  and  at  Porte  au 
Prince,  at  Samana,  at  Cape  Francois,  it  was  I,  I  who 
lead  the  assaults ;  it  was  I,  I  who  won  the  victories ! 
All  this  you  owned  to  me,  and  further  went.  It  was 
best,  you  said,  that  this  be  a  united  country.  It  was 
you,  who  in  the  Council,  did  advise  and  urge  the  re- 
peal of  the  Constitution  L'Ouverture.  You  it  was  that 
said :  "For  the  children  of  warm  Af  ric's  clime,  kings 
must  rule  as  in  their  native  land."  All  this  you  said 
and  more.  You  it  was  that  urged  me  to  proclaim  my- 
self ruler  over  all.  Ah,  where  were  you  on  the  day 
of  the  coup  d'etat  ?  Here  ?  To  set  a  lesson  in  loyalty  ? 
No !  You  were  in  the  mountains,  far  from  public 
gaze,  forsooth,  awaiting  the  news  of :  "All  had 
failed."  You  know  me,  and  still  you  know  me  not.  Pe- 
tion  is  your  friend ;  he  and  his  mulatres  cry,  "Christo- 
phe,  ami  des  peuples,  Christophe  is  humane,  Dessalines 
the  brute !"  They  plot, — you,  you  conspire.  And  I, — 
— should  have  your  head  for  this ! 

CHRISTOPHE 

Overcome  by  anger,  you  would  destroy  your  friends  ! 
I  will  not  reproach  you ;  but  is  it  not  true  that,  during 
the  retreat  from  Soucriere,  you — you  had  slain  one 
hundred  blacks,  at  Toulude? 

DESSALINES 

Ay,  ay !  I  slew  them ;  they  would  not  fight  for  lib- 
erty; men  who  would  not  be  free,  are  not  fit  to  live. 

CHRISTOPHE 

You  accuse  me  without  cause — me  and  my  friends. 

DESSALINES 

Ah,  there  it  is,  me  and  my  friends.     You  should  have 
32 


no  other  friends,  save  mine;  they  who  love  Haitians 
first ;  who  fought  to  free  them,  and  not  to  enslave  them. 
I  know  you  and  your  friends  do  plot,  and  weave  spider 
webs  for  me  and  mine.  Ah,  I  am  unlike  you  a  reader 
of  books,  who  can  tell  what  Caesar  said,  and  what 
Cicero  wrote.  When  night  comes,  I  sleep ;  I  do  not 
prowl  like  wolves,  to  snarl  and  bite.  Ah,  Petion's  dog- 
soldiers?  Ha! ha! 

CHRISTOPHE 

I  care  not  what  Petion,  and  his  emissaries  do,  I  can 
crush  them  when  the  time  comes. 

DESSALINES 

The  time  has  come,  has  all  but  passed.  Cape  Fran- 
cois is  honeycombed  with  agencies  of  these  mulatres, 
and  you  hope  to  profit  by  the  disquiet  of  these  foes  to 
my  sovereignty.  Through  you  is  France  negotiating 
with  the  affected  East ! 

CHRISTOPHE 

Dessalines,  you  wrong  me. 

DESSALINES 

I  wrong  Haiti,  to  let  you  live ! 

CHRISTOPHE 

I  love  neither  France,  nor  the  mulatres. 

DESSALINES 

I  do  not  accuse  you  of  loving  them,  but  I  accuse  you 
of  betraying  me.  The  succession  is  fixed,  can  you  not 
wait  ?  O  !  Christophe. 

33 


CHRISTOPHE 

Nay,  in  your  anger,  each  image  is  a  new  foe. 

DESSALINES 

Listen,  Christophe,  you  would  be  ruler  over  all,  and 
dare  question  my  right  to  rule.  You  forget,  I  am  in 
my  natural  rights.  I  was  to  kingly  powers  born,  and 
not  by  election  made.  I  am  of  the  Foolah  tribe,  those 
who  by  divine  right  and  conquest  rule  in  my  native 
land.  The  blood  of  generations  of  kings  courses 
through  my  veins,  and  the  people  of  Haiti  know  this — 
the  righting  people — those  who  freed  Haiti.  You,  a 
descendant  of  slaves — a  Coramenta — beast  of  burden, 
woman-men.  Ah,  be  calm,  like  me;  for  the  goad  is 
not  well  applied.  You  reader  of  books,  burner  of 
midnight  oil,  smooth  acting  deceit,  ay,  blows  from  be- 
hind are  your  weapons — blows,  blows  harder  than  ad- 
mantine  rock — blows  in  the  opening,  foes  face  to  face, 
force  to  force  are  mine ! 

CHRISTOPHE 

How  shall  I  bear  all  this  and  be  your  friend  ? 

DESSALINES 

My  friend?  I  ask  it  not,  but  my  open  foe  you 
must. 

CHRISTOPHE 

Was  ever  man  so  goaded ! 

DESSALINES 

Nay,  it  is  your  conscience  that  pricks  you,  your  dis- 
ordered spleen ;  it  is  the  vile  purpose  that  is  in  you ! 
(Cries  from  without,  "Paula,  Paula!"  Christophe 
starts.) 

34 


CHRISTOPHE 

(Aside.)  So  soon  the  grave  of  Paula  affects  his 
wits. 

DESSALINES 

What  said  you? 

CHRISTOPHE 

It  is  some  madman  who  raves  for  one  Paula. 

DESSALINES 

Paula,  say  you?  Methinks,  the  same  sounds  famil- 
iar. Ah,  she  it  was,  I  saved  from  your  lust,  only  to 
go  mad  and  die! 

CHRISTOPHE 

I  would  have  made  her  my  wife. 

DESSALINES 

Wife,  one  among  the  many !  Good  God !  To  have 
such  men  to  officer  my  brave  fighting  men!  (Cries 
draw  nearer:  "Paula  you  will  be  avenged!"  (Enter 
Alphonse  de  Pays,  with  drawn  sword,  hatless,  crying 
the  name  of  Paula,  and  thrusting.  As  Dessalines  turns 
his  back  to  Christophe,  the  latter  quietly  retires.) 

DESSALINES 

You  have  a  sword,  disarm  the  madman,  ere  he  do 
harm.  (Dessalines  turning.)  Ah,  gone!  (Alphonse 
advancing  on  Dessalines :  "Give  me  back  my  Paula !") 
I  have  not  your  Paula,  I  would  parley  with  you. 
(Dessalines  slowly  retreating,  Alphonse  stealthily  ad- 
vancing.) 

ALPHONSE  DE  PAYS 

Give  me  back  my  Paula!     Already,  have  I  thrust 
37 


through  twenty  blacks.  Give  me  back  my  Paula !  ( Al- 
phonse  advancing,  glares  into  the  face  of  Dessalines 
and  recognizes  him.)  Ah,  it  is  he!  Die,  dog! — die 
accursed  of  all  men!  (Alphonse  thrusts  Dessalines 
through,  and  rushing  from  the  scene  cries :  "Avenged 
Paula!"  Enter  Christophe  and  Dubois;  pause  at  re- 
mains of  Dessalines.) 

DUBOIS 

His  imperial  majesty  is  dead!  Ha!  ha!  his  reign 
of  terror  is  over. 

CHRISTOPHE 

Speak  not  his  epitah ;  it  ill  becomes  our  lips  to  speak 
harshly  of  the  dead.  He  was  slain  that  others  more 
deserving  might  live.  (Shouts  from  without.) 

DUBOIS 

Let  us  away !  We  must  not  be  the  first  to  discover 
this. 

CHRISTOPHE 

Yes,  like  murderers,  let  us  away.  (Exeunt  Chris- 
tophe and  Dubois.  Enter  Jacques  and  people.) 

JACQUES 

Oh,  good  people,  the  crazy  mulatre  told  the  truth! 
Ah,  I  know  the  real  murderers !  May  the  devil  get 
them!  (Enter  Christophe  and  Dubois.) 

JACQUES 
(Pointing  to  Christophe.)     Long  live  the  Emperor! 

OMNES 
Vive  1'Empereur!  Vive! 

JACQUES 

Ahem !     I  will  not  be  less  than  a  Duke  now. 
CURTAIN 


40 


ACT  II 

Scene :  PLACE  DES  PEUPLES  ;  Hotel  Mouton,  in  open, 
tables  and  chairs  for  guests.  Church  facing  Square. 
Heard  as  curtain  arises  the  chant :  "Ite  missa  est."  Re- 
sponse by  choir,  "Amen."  Antoine  busy  about  tables.) 

ANTOINE 

Well,  the  good  people  who  attend  mass,  will  want 
their  strong  black  coffee,  and  it  is  ready  for  them. 
(Enter  people  from  church  and  after  them  Valerie, 
in  habit  of  priest:  bowing  right  and  left,  takes  a  seat 
at  a  distant  table.  Hereafter,  Valerie  shall  be  known 
as  Pere  L'Avenge.)  Ah,  the  good  cure,  he  must  have 
his  coffee  and  gill  of  wine.  He  is  indeed  the  friend 
of  the  People. 

FIRST  CITIZEN 

(Pointing  to  L'Avenge.)  Is  it  not  strange,  he  has 
been  here  quite  a  fortnight  today,  and  he  is  yet  to  say 
a  mass,  or  hear  a  confession? 

SECOND   CITIZEN 

Bah  !  'Tis  not  strange ;  he  says  his  masses  when  the 
cock  first  crows,  and  you  old  lazy-bones  are  still  in  bed. 

FIRST   CITIZEN 

But,  that  is  not  all;  he  speaks  with  no  one  but  old 
Antoine,  and  each  day  Antoine  gives  him  a  package, 
and  in  return  Antoine  receives  gold.  Indeed,  a  whole 
louis.  And  again,  when  the  good  Fathei  opens  the 
package,  sometimes  he  is  so  pleased,  that  he  laughs  not 
at  all  like  a  priest,  and  sometimes,  he  reads  and  is  very 
angry.  (Enter  Antoine  with  coffee  and  a  small  pack- 
age, the  latter  he  slyly  passes  to  L'Avenge.  Sound  of 

41 


tom-tom,  enter  Mamam  followed  by  Jacques,  extrava- 
gantly dressed.) 

MAMAM 

< 

(Heralds.)  "Chevalier  Boismurande  de  Montmor- 
ency,  Royal  Equerry  to  his  puissant  Highness,  Henri 
I,  and  Major-domo  of  the  Imperial  stables — Oyez, 
oyez !"  Mamam  exhausted,  drops  in  chair  and 
tom-tom  falls  in  clatter  to  floor.) 

JACQUES 

(Bowing  profoundly.)  Behold  the  patron  of  the 
common  people,  your  friend. 

MAMAM 

Largesse!  Largesse! 

PEOPLE 
(Poking  fun.)     Largesse!  largesse! 

JACQUES 

(Throwing  coins  on  table.)  Drink,  drink,  good  and 
deep,  my  humble  friends.  (People  laughing,  while  An- 
toine  fills  glasses.  L' Avenge  who  has  been  reading 
contents  of  package,  with  an  ejaculation  of  impatience, 
arises  and  withdraws.) 

FIRST   CITIZEN 

Was  there  ever  such  a  vain  fellow,  his  poor  mother 
has  become  his  valet,  and  forsooth,  she  must  address 
him  Chevalier  ?  Ha !  ha ! 

SECOND  CITIZEN 

Bah !  most  mothers  are  the  delighted  servant  in  their 
children's  household.  Ah,  but  the  simple,  he  dearly 

42 


loves  the  People!     Does  he  not  seek  us  out,  to  tell  us 
the  Court  news? 

FIRST    CITIZEN 

Love  the  people — Ha !  ha !  Jacques  loves  only  him- 
self. See  you  not  he  does  this  to  air  his  grandeur  and 
himself?  But  wait,  Susanne  will  soon  be  here;  see 
how  he  flirts  with  La  Belle.  (Young  woman  springs 
from  Jacques'  lap.) 

LA   BELLE 

Good,  good,  the  Chevalier  will  sing  for  us ! 

PIERRE 

(Arising.)     Yes,  my  poor  friends,  I  will  regale  you 
with   the  melody   of — ahem — my   dulcet  notes.     You 
shall  listen  to  the  first  verse,  which  I  shall  sing  in  solo, 
and  then — you  are  permitted  to  join  me  in  the  next. 
Endeavor  with  your  rude  and  uncultivated  voices,  not 
to  destroy  the  harmony  of  mine.     (Sings.) 
I  love  the  common  People  so  well, 
All  I  know,  I  never,  never  tell ; 
And  at  Court,  they  all  say 
The  Chevalier  is  grand — he  is  gay, 
But  I  hate  to  be  speaking  of  Myself— 
Of  myself,  of  myself. 

OMNES 

Bravo,  magnifique!     (Sings.) 

He  is  just  as  modest  as  can  be, 
As  you  all  can  plainly,  plainly  see  ; 
And  he  is  noble  in  his  way, 
Though  at  times,  a  little  gay, 
He  does,  believe  in  speaking  of  himself — 
Of  himself,  of  himself ! 
43 


OMNES 

(Laugh  with  great  glee.) 

JACQUES 

My  friends,  my  humble  friends,  I  note  with  pleasure, 
a  slight  improvement  in  your  tones.  I  might  use  the 
language  of  the  art,  its  technique,  but  then — life  is  too 
short.  Nevertheless,  I  am  encouraged  to  believe,  that 
I  have  not  wasted  upon  you  my  numerous  instructions. 

OMNES 

Ha  !  ha  !  good  for  the  Chevalier  ! 

FIRST    CITIZEN 

Now  for  the  news ! 

OMNES 

Yes,  the  news — the  news ! 

JACQUES 

Poor  creatures,  how  anxious  they  are  to  learn  of 
the  doings  of  their  betters.  Ah!  such  glorious  nights 
at  Sans  Souci !  Learn  then,  we  have — a  ballet. 

OMNES 
A  ballet ! 

JACQUES 

And,  a  premiere  danseuse!  Ah,  such  shoulders — 
they  are  sublime.  She  glides — so ;  she  pirroquets — 
thus ;  and  she  makes  the  pretty  mouth  to  me  in  this 
manner.  Ah,  then  the  feast,  the  grande  couchon,  pates 
magnifique,  the  feast,  nay,  the  banquet  imperiale. 
Wine,  wine  all  the  time  and — afterwards !  Ah,  im- 

44 


mense,  a  fight  or  more,  at  the  pointe  always,  never  the 
rude  pistol,  with  its  noise  and  smoke;  presently,  a 
splash,  and  all  is  over. 

OMNES 
Oh! 

JACQUES 

It  is  so  easy,  so  considerate,  you  know.  But  in  the 
morning, — ah  bien —  a  few  swollen  heads,  a  thrust 
wound  or  so,  and  then — there  may  be  a  peculiar  taste  in 
the  mouth;  but  the  spirits  of  the  man  are  toute  en- 
semble. It  is  glorious,  my  simple  friends,  and  now — be 
proud,  in  all  these  doings,  your  good  friend  Jacques — 
no,  no,  I  mean  your  Chevalier — cuts  a  very  wide 
swathe — very  wide. 

OMNES 

(Laughing.)     Brave  Chevalier ! 

JACQUES 

Oh,  not  so  brave;  only  not  afraid.  This  sentiment 
I  will  place  upon  my  coat-of-arms — when  my  tailor 
has  devised  one.  Ah,  ma  petite  belle — she  will  sing. 
Her  voice  is  exquisite — at  times. 

LA   BELLE 

(Sings,  ad.  lib.) 

OMNES 

Bravo,  bravo ! 

JACQUES 

My  friends,  you  forget,  I  am  the  first  to  decide  the 
merits  of  the  singing — provided  it  has  any  merits. 

47 


OMNES 

Good,  good ! 

FIRST   CITIZEN 

Yes,  the  Chevalier,  alone  is  capable  of  passing  an 
opinion  on  such  a  weighty  matter  as  art. 

JACQUES 

Thanks,  my  humble  friends,  La  Belle,  my  poor  child, 
you  have  sang  sweetly ;  but  your  upper  register  is  lack- 
ing in  timbre — your  expression  is  exquisite ;  but  you 
lack  feeling,  and  your  technique  is — unquestionably- 
raw.  Be  not  discouraged,  I  will  give  you  more  in- 
struction— when  I  have  time  to  spare  from  matters 
diplomatique.  Now,  my  friend  Antoine,  a  toast  to  La 
Belle,  Beauty  and  the  Arts,  the  latter  of  which  you 
know  nothing.  (Antoine  fills  glasses.) 

OMNES 

La  Belle,  Beauty,  The  Arts!  (All  drink  standing. 
Alphonse  and  L'Avenge  enter  deep  in  conversation 
aside.) 

JACQUES 

Now  my  humble  scholastiques,  follow  me  and  I  shall 
show  you  something,  wild,  wierd  and  wonderful  to 
your  undeveloped  intellects.  It  is  :  an  acquarium. — En 
avant ! 

(People  laughing,  follow  Jacques.  Antoine,  Pere 
L'Avenge  and  Alphonse  de  Pays,  conversing  leave. 
Enter  Christophe  cloaked,  spurs,  sword  at  side  and  on 
breast  of  coat  broad  ribbon,  and  order  jewels.  Chris- 
tophe wearily  seats  himself  at  one  of  the  tables.) 

48 


CHRISTOPHE 

Ay,  it  must  be  so;  though  the  world  may  judge  me 
otherwise,  it  must  be  so:  all  the  glories  of  my  wars 
will  shadow  their  bright  light  in  the  impenetrable  gloom 
of  quick  distress.  Death  is  but  to  die — to  die — rot, 
leaving  no  sign  to  let  it  be  known  one  ever  lived,  save 
monumental  deeds.  Ah,  deeds  that  I  would  do,  deeds 
have  I  done;  deeds,  deeds  still  to  do.  I  shall  build 
to  live  in  Memory,  and  live  to  destroy  that  I  may  the 
better  live.  With  me  shall  pass  the  glories  of  my 
countrymen !  The  piles  that  sorrows,  pains  and  tears 
at  Millot  reared,  two  thousand  feet  above  the  yawning 
earth,  graced  majestic  with  Sans  Souci  and  La  Fer- 
riere,  whose  sturdy  base  will  survive  ages  yet  to  come. 
One  shadow  alone  will  molest  my  view.  Oh !  Jean 
Jacques,  Dessalines,  old  comrade,  once  my  friend  !  Oh  ! 
rugged  soul,  like  you  must  I  go!  No — no,  paltry 
slave  shall  thrust  me  to  my  end.  When,  where,  how ! 
When  my  work  is  meet  and  done,  and  Fate  beckons 
me  to  the  inevitable;  when  shall  I  die,  when  my 
work  is  o'er,  I  shall  yet  live  in  memory.  Where  shall 
I  cease  to  live,  I  know  not,  neither  do  I  care.  Ah ! — 
How,  I  have  yet  found  no  worthier  hand  the  quietus 
to  make,  than  this  the  hand  I  call  my  own.  At  death, 
I  laugh  for  in  the  transition,  there  be  many  who  go 
before.  These  fractious  fools,  who  would  destroy  my 
autocratic  reign,  could  but  know  in  destroying  me  and 
mine,  they  but  impale  the  glory  of  themselves !  When 
the  yokels  of  ages  yet  to  come,  pass  through  the  King's 
highways,  once  worthy  of  the  name,  but  then  no  more 
but  shadows  of  their  former  like,  they  will  in  wonder, 
cry  out :  "Great  Christophe,  he  knew  more  else  than 
war;  he  knew  the  arts  of  Peace."  And  so  they  stare 
with  op'ed  mouth  in  wonder  from  vast  declivity,  and 

49 


look  upon  the  nobler  ruins  below,  now  the  abode  of 
creeping  things,  glutted  with  rank  weeds  and  wirey 
grasses,  the  festering  place  of  stark  fevers,  they,  again, 
seeing  the  glory  faded  of  my  reign,  will  cry  anew : 
"Great,  wise  Christophe !"  Conspire  ye  fools,  joy 
yourselves  the  while,  for  in  my  passing,  bloody  though 
it  be,  passes  the  true  glory  of  your  race ! 

(Noise  from  without.) 

The  rabble,  fools !  Happy  for  the  hour,  the  hour 
is  too  long  for  such  as  they.  Cannot  I  combat  spec- 
tres? How,  gives  me  cause  for  thought  and — think- 
ing fight — fight  to  increase  the  spectral  troops,  who  in 
dreams  alone  are  potent!  I  shall  go — but  how,  when 
and  where?  I  care  not;  only  the  ruthless  ravage  of 
time,  can  smooth  the  jagged  footsteps  of  my  glory. 
Perchance  I  have  a  conscience ;  perchance — I,  too,  am 
a  fool.  We  will  see,  we  will  see !  My  name  is  still 
mighty  in  the  land — more  monuments  shall  I  build — 
more  enemy  shall  I  destroy ;  I  know  best,  and  future 
ages,  they  will  show — I  knew  best.  My  motto  ever: 
Dieu  et  mon  Epee.  (Christophe  slowly  leaves.  En- 
ter Alphonse  and  L' Avenge.) 

PERE    L' AVENGE 

This  then,  is  all  you  have  to  tell  me,  who  have 
waited  so  long  to  learn  more.  Ah,  you  have  not  even 
found  the  grave  of  Amede. 

ALPHONSE  DE  PAYS 

Too  true,  dear  friend,  this  is  all — but  then  Valerie — 


Speak  not  that  name! — my  real  self  was  buried  on 
that  night,  that  saw  the  last  of  all  my  hopes  of  happi- 

50 


ness,  as  Father  the  Avenger, — I  will  have  my  resurrec- 
tion. 

ALPHONSE  DE  PAYS 

A  resurrection,  that  will  mark  the  death  of  many 
ones'  most  cherished  hopes.  This,  also,  do  I  know, 
Rigaud  returns;  but  it  is  not  to  assist  Petion,  as  we 
supposed. 


I  care  not  who  he  aids,  so  long  as  he  makes  war  on 
Christophe. 

ALPHONSE  DE  PAYS 

That  is  assured.  At  this  time  where  I  am  due,  there 
is  a  meeting,  to  have  read  a  message  from  Rigaud,  and 
to  decide  how  far  advanced  the  work  of  the  Revolu- 
tion should  be  on.  To  you  have  I  been  sent,  to  learn 
the  secret  of  the  Tunnel.  Deny  me  not,  for  we  have 
waited  long. 


You  should  not  complain,  for  of  great  import,  you 
have  learned  other  things. 

ALPHONSE  DE  PAYS 

Indeed,  we  have,  but  nothing  as  important  as  this 
we  wish  to  know. 

PERE    L' AVENGE 

In  due  time,  you  shall  know,  but  this  is  not  the  ap- 
pointed time.  Nay,  my  friend,  the  time  has  not  ar- 
rived when  all  the  secrets  of  Sans  Souci  should  be 
known.  Then  again,  you  have  not  forgotten  our  agree- 
ment? 

51 


ALPHONSE  DE  PAYS 


I  have  not  forgotten.  You  said :  "before  the  fall  of 
the  Empire,  and  the  proclamation  of  Petion's  govern- 
ment, I  am  to  possess  the  person  of  Christophe,  to  dis- 
pose as  I  see  fit." 


PERE    L  AVENGE 


And  you  wondered  why  I  made  this  the  condition  of 
my  support? 


ALPHONSE  DE  PAYS 

Nay,  I  have  never  wondered,  I  know  your  sex  well. 
Ah,  how  you  women  hate ! 

PERE   L' AVENGE 

How  we  women  love !  Think  you,  I  have  assumed 
this  priestly  guise  and  lived  this  double  life,  for  nearly 
eleven  years,  simply  to  seek  that  beastly  thing  you 
call  Revenge.  Revenge  is  redress  for  wrongs,  endur- 
ing only  with  the  worldly  expiation  of  the  offense; 
more  intense,  absorbing,  consuming — both  body  and 
soul — are  what  I  seek.  It  may  seem  strange  to  you ; 
but  I  have  been  revenged  since  the  first  day  I  entered 
the  service  of  Christophe — now  ten  long  years. 

ALPHONSE  DE  PAYS 

I  have  frequently  wondered  in  what  manner,  you 
were  able  to  enter  so  completely  into  the  confidence  of 
this  man.  It  is  currently  reported  that  he  confesses 
to  you,  ha!  ha! — if  this  be  so,  what  nightmares  must 
you  have,  and  what  penance  you  must  give  him — ha ! 
ha — unless  he  confesses  only  venial  sins,  and  thought- 
fully forgets  his  major  offenses. 


PERE    L  AVENGE 

It  is  true ;  I  have  learned  the  soul  of  this  man — his 
thoughts  are  of  my  making;  his  acts  are  prompted  by 
these  thoughts — and  his  every  deed  is  but  the  reflexion 
of  my  will.  When  today,  he  is  guilty  of  one  good 
deed,  it  is  only  that  the  deed  of  the  morrow,  may  suffer 
by  comparison.  If  at  times,  he  appears  as  a  father  to 
his  people,  it  is  that  the  fiendish  act  that  follows,  may 
be  received  as  another  evidence  of  his  natural  ferocity 
and  treachery.  Ah,  it  is  the  soul — the  soul,  that  I 
would  damn,  forever  and — forever ! 

ALPHONSE  DE  PAYS 

Why  then  in  your  agreement,  you  demanded  that 
you  have  his  body? 

PERE  L'AVENGE 

In  God's  scheme  of  mercy,  there  be  two  sins  that 
are  unforgivable — one  is  despair.  So  full  of  woe  shall 
be  his  downfall  when  the  time  comes,  by  his  own  hand 
shall  he  die.  My  vengeance  demands  that  his  memory 
shall  be  execrated  of  all  men — history  shall  tell  of  all 
men — what  he  was.  Time  shall  not  gloss  his  crimes ; 
age  shall  not  smooth  the  rugged  unevenness  of  this 
man's  life.  They  who  come  after  us,  shall  mock  that 
such  a  creature  ever  reigned  in  Haiti. 

ALPHONSE  DE  PAYS 

This  is  indeed  a  magnificent  hate ! 


Ah,  my  friend,  I  have  a  weapon  he  dreams  not  of, 
and  its  name — is  flattery!  He  dreams  of  Empire, 
whose  borders  will  reach  far  on  the  Continent  of 
North  America — I  have  him  believe  that  the  slaves 

53 


across  the  Gulf,  look  to  him  for  freedom,  and  at  a 
moment's  notice,  are  ready  to  revolt.  Ay,  that  on  the 
Floridan  Peninsula,  a  hundred  thousand  Blacks,  at 
short  notice,  are  ready  to  assemble,  and  call  him  Chief. 
In  Jamaica,  Porto  Rico  and  in  Cuba,  the  Blacks  await 
his  proclamation  to  swear  allegiance  to  the  Empire  of 
Haiti !  Ay,  all  these  does  he  believe,  and  believing — 
dreams ;  and  in  dreaming  begets  himself  such  airs,  he 
is  now  seriously  meditating  plans  to  further  his  ambi- 
tions along  the  line  of  extending  this  domain. 

ALPHONSE  DE  PAYS 

It  is  then  these  newly  acquired  airs  that  have  made 
such  havoc  in  his  household.  It  is  said  he  ignores  the 
Council  of  State  and  that  his  generals  bear  them- 
selves coldly  to  his  plans. 

PERE  L' AVENGE 

It  is  so — much  more  could  I  tell  of  the  manner  in 
which  this  man  is  prompted  to  his  destruction.  That 
destruction  must  be  complete — it  must  be  utter — my 
plans  cannot  be  hurried.  Ah,  had  you  such  a  hate 

ALPHONSE  DE  PAYS 

Had  I  a  hate !  You  know  not  whereof  you  speak 
when  you  question  my  fervor  in  this  great  work  of 
retribution.  My  God !  I  have  but  one  thought,  one — 
Dubois !  The  name  rings  in  my  ear,  and  in  my  dreams 
I  see  his  hated  form  stalking  like  some  hideous  night- 
mare !  Ah,  how  patient  have  I  been — how  calm — how 
free  from  excess.  Years  have  passed  since  that  terri- 
ble night  of  my  return,  when  just  from  Paula's  grave 
I  fought  my  way  to  the  only  friend  of  the  dear  one 
and  in  my  frenzy — slew  him.  Grief  crazed  my  brain, 
and  a  thousand  devils  nerved  my  arm  to  this  unjust 

54 


deed.  Have  I  cause,  my  soul,  to  hate  the  very  name 
of  Dubois  and  desire  his  destruction,  should  go  un- 
questioned by  you,  who  know  all  so  well — Unshrived 
by  priest  and  not  until  the  doors  of  Hell  close  upon 
him  shall  I  be  content. 

PERE  L'AVENGE 

Forgive  me,  my  friend,  if  for  a  moment  I  forget 
that  others,  too,  have  their  griefs — that  you,  my  com- 
rade, have  cause  to  live. 

ALPHONSE  DE  PAYS 

My  hand.  Let  us  live  for  Memory  and  Revenge ! — 
Ah,  here  returns  the  canaille.  I  have  here  an  import- 
ant document  which  you  may  overlook  with  some  care. 

(Alphonse  and  L' Avenge  intent  with  paper.  Enter 
Jacques  and  La  Belle  accompanied  by  People.) 

JACQUES 

Now  that  you  have  received  a  lesson  in  ichthyology, 
we  will  return  to  the  arts.  Ah,  history  shall  place  my 
name  in  conspicuosity — in  some  uncommon  manner; 
perhaps,  perhaps, — the  "Educator  of  the  Common 
People." 

LA   BELLE 

The  Chevalier  has  informed  me  that  the  Emperor 
has  entrusted  him  with  a  secret  mission. 

JACQUES 

It  may  appear  very  extraordinary — to  you;  but  I 
have  been  so  honored — It  is  my  duty  to  find  the  meet- 
ing place  of  the  would-be  Revolutionists — to  find  the 
nest  of  the  conspirators.  To  be  more  explicit,  I  am 
now  the  Special  Agent  of  the  Empire. 

55 


OMNES 

Oh — more  conspiracies  ! 

JACQUES 

Conspiracies  always.  Why,  life  without  one  or  two 
conspiracies  on  hand  would  be  like  a  night  at  Sans 
Souci  without  a  broken  head.  Then,  if  you  only  know 
how,  a  conspiracy  is  so  easily  managed.  First,  catch 
one  of  the  conspirators,  then  proceed  to  kill  him ;  con- 
tinue this  process  speciale  until — you  have  destroyed 
the  conspiracy. — How  to  detect  a  conspiracy?  Ah, 
that's  it ;  you  see  two  men  together ;  they  are  earnestly 
engaged  in  conversation — one  individual  appears  en- 
grossed in  listening,  the  other  is  deeply  engaged  in  let- 
ting his  voice  rise  and  fall  rhythmically — the  listener 
appears  to  hesitate — he  feebly  mutters  something — the 
other  lowers  his  voice,  in  a  despairing  manner  —  he 
proffers  something  hidden — the  listener  finally  places 
his  hand  in  his  pocket — he  has  become  a  party  to  the 
conspiracy. 

OMNES 

Bravo — bravo ! 

LA   BELLE 

These  conspiracies — are  they  not  dreadful? 
JACQUES 

Never,  to  your  Chevalier — only  ordinary — Now  we 
have  a  conspiracy  to  destroy  this  government. 

OMNES 
Oh!   Oh! 

JACQUES 

Yes,  ye  have  two  conspiracies;  one  in  the  Army 

56 


and  one  of  the  Mulatres.  The  one  in  the  Army — that 
is  the  trouble.  The  Mulatres — we  expect  that  and  we 
are  prepared  to  suppress  it  with  the  other.  En  pas- 
sant— there  is  nothing  so  convenient  as  having  two 
conspiracies  on  hand,  at  the  same  time — Pit  one 
against  the  other,  and  then  you  can  watch  the  diver- 
tissement of  the  combatants  counting  broken  heads. 
Piff! 

FIRST  CITIZEN 

What  a  statesman  our  Chevalier  has  become — He 
makes  a  conspiracy  one  minute  and  then — destroys 
it.  Pough ! 

JACQUES 

You  do  me  an  injustice — I  simply  unmake  conspi- 
racies— Entende — two  men  or  more,  mark  ye,  not 
less,  with  a  grievance ;  a  mistaken  notion  of  opportun- 
ity, and  there  you  have  a  conspiracy.  On  the  other 
hand,  not  one  conspiracy  in  several  hundred  ever 
reaches  the  magnitude  of  a  Revolution. 

OMNES 
Sacre  bleu ! — a  Revolution ! 

LA   BELLE 

(Pointing  to  L' Avenge  and  Alphonse)  Look!  What 
do  you  think  of  that  ? 

JACQUES 

The  gallant  and  the  priest — the  sinner  and  the  saint. 
You  cannot  make  a  conspiracy  there.  Between  the 
man  of  war  and  the  angel  of  peace,  and  there  can  only 
be  repentance  on  the  part  of  one,  and  absolution  on 
the  part  of  the  other.  But  I  know  that  good  Father 
well;  he  is  the  spiritual  advisor  to  the  Emperor;  but 

57 


the  other  face  I've  forgotten.  Forgotten  ?  Never !  I 
have  simply  misplaced  it  in  the  commodious  archives 
of  my  phenomenal  memory. 

(From  without,  a  woman's  voice:  "Oh,  Jacques! 
you  lazy,  good-for-nothing!"  Enter  Susanne,  reaches 
Jacques'  side,  roughly  pushes  him,  pushes  La  Belle 
aside  and  takes  Jacques  by  the  ear,  saying,  "Go!" — 
strides  after  him.  At  the  exit,  Susanne  faces  the  peo- 
ple defiantly;  Jacques  waves  a  kiss  over  her  shoulder.) 

JACQUES 

Remember  my  instructions,  my  poor  people — I  go  to 
collaborate.  (Exeunt  Jacques  and  Susanne.) 

OMNES 
Oh— oh ! 

LA   BELLE 

(Who  has  been  intently  scanning  the  Soldier)  Ah, 
that  face  of  the  gallant — Where  have  I  seen  it  before  ? 
Look,  friends,  can  you  recall  it  ? 

(People  regarding  Alphonse  with  growing  suspi- 
cion.) 

PERE    L' AVENGE 

After  all,  what  a  poor  bauble  is  the  thing  I  seek. 
Yet  it  is  dear  to  me.  There  can  be  no  peace,  no  rest, 
no  sunshine  in  my  life — shadows  and  vengeance  always 
accompany  one  another.  And  knowing  this  full  well, 
I  still  seek  revenge — Ay,  though  I  place  my  soul  in  the 
balance,  the  price  is  not  too  dear,  if  in  gaining  my 
ends,  I  shall  fix  the  destiny  of  Christophe — He  wants 
much;  I  want  little — he  would  fatten  on  the  proceeds 
of  crime;  to  him  conquest,  rapine,  Empire  and  pleas- 
ure unlimited — for  him  life.  For  me,  revenge  and 
Death  may  be  its  comrade. 

58 


ALPHONSE  DE  PAYS 

And  Sans  Souci? 

PERE    L' AVENGE 

He  named  it:  "without  care."  We  shall  see;  he 
shall  know  that  there  can  be  no  place  so  strong  to 
shield  him  from  my  vengeance.  Architects,  engineers 
and  skilled  workmen  were  brought  from  France  under 
secret  agreement  to  give  him  a  fortress  on  an  island 
in  the  bay,  that  would  be  impregnable  from  assault 
without,  also  give  a  secret  passage  to  and  from  the 
mainland — a  tunnel.  All  the  work  on  this  tunnel  was 
performed  by  men  whose  reward  was  to  be  death — that 
the  secret  of  its  existence  should  live  alone  in  his 
memory.  Poison  one  night  sent  two  hundred  souls 
unshrived  to  the  presence  of  their  Maker.  My  God! 
what  a  price  to  pay  and — lose. 

ALPHONSE  DE  PAYS 

You  share  his  secret — And  how  came  this? 

PERE    L' AVENGE 

The  cruel  are  always  cowards.  Once  when  he  was 
sick — thinking  that  he  should  die,  he  sought  of  me  abso- 
lution— he  had  confessed. 

ALPHONSE  DE  PAYS 

But  the  secrets  of  the  Confessional  are  inviolate. 


But  you  forget,  I  am  no  priest — I  am  the  avenger 
of  the  death  of  my  Amede.  I  am  the  instrument  of 
fate ;  the  avenger  of  the  deaths  of  all  good  Haitians. 
(Antoine  comes  to  the  table  where  Alphonse  and 
L' Avenge  are  seated.) 

59 


ANTOINE 

Good  Father,  I  would  have  a  word  with  you. 

PERE  L' AVENGE 

As  many  as  you  will,  and  time  to  say  them.  (Aside 
to  Alphonse,  who  has  arisen.  Antoine  seats  himself.) 
Now,  Antoine,  what  would  you  say? 

(Alphonse  has  his  way  barred  as  he  reaches  exit. 
La  Belle  barring  his  way  and  staring  in  his  face.) 

LA   BELLE 

It  is  he — It  is  he ! 

FIRST  CITIZEN 

Let  him  not  pass — We  will  be  avenged  on  him — He 
it  was  that  slew  Dessalines ! 

(People  gather  closer  about  Alphonse.) 

OMNES 
Kill  him— Kill  him ! 

ALPHONSE  DE  PAYS 

(Retreating  and  lunging)  Back — Back!  Upon  your 
lives ! 

FIRST  CITIZEN 

(Presenting  pistol  at  the  head  of  Alphonse)  Take 
death,  accursed  Mulatre ! 

(Pere  L' Avenge  springs  between  Alphonse  and  the 
First  Citizen,  crucifix  aloft.) 


In  the  name  of — (lowers  crucifix) — of  the  Emperor ! 
(Exit  Alphonse  de  Pays.    Angelus  bell  from  Church. 
With  stooped  heads  the  People  make  sign  of  cross.) 
CURTAIN. 
60 


ACT  III 

(CAMP  OF  THE  REGULAR  TROOPS  of  Haiti,  at  Jacmel. 
Mountains  in  the  distance.  Canopy  in  center.  Senti- 
nels apparently  out  of  hearing.  Christophe  and 
Dubois  seated  at  table  under  canopy  busily  studying 
maps.) 

DUBOIS 

Yes,  it  is  at  this  point,  the  insurgents  reinforced  by 
the  Mulatre  from  the  North  have  met  with  the  fol- 
lowers of  Rigaud.  From  Lacroix  and  from  Cape 
Francois,  the  disaffected  ones  are  in  secret  communi- 
cation with  those  already  in  arms.  Oh,  Christophe! 
I  fear  we  must  seek  our  dernier  resort — we  must  re- 
treat to  Sans  Souci,  until  such  time  as  we  hear  from 
our  emissaries  to  the  continent. 

CHRISTOPHE 

Speak  not  of  retreat ;  for  there  is  still  work  to  do. 
The  Caribs  are  still  faithful  to  our  arms — and  Pere 
L'  Avenge 

DUBOIS 

Ha — that  name,  I  like  it  not — I  cannot  tell;  but 
the  shadow  of  it — I  always  see  the  frowning  face  of 
the  interdict — I  see  Alphonse  de  Pays 

CHRISTOPHE 

Vapors,  good  friend.  Long  since,  that  crazy  mula- 
tre  has  made  his  reckoning;  long  since,  he  has  passed 
the  way  of  the  fool  that  invites  danger.  Let  us  speak 
of  the  living — these  we  hope  to  soon  see  dead. — My 
agents  tell  me  that  Petion  has  wasted  his  munitions 
of  war ;  he  is  bankrupt  in  purse ;  the  heat  of  summer 
has  filled  the  trenches  with  his  palefaces. — Ah,  we  shall 

63 


go  to  Sans  Souci,  not  as  retreating  chieftains,  but 
rather  as  conquerors,  to  rest  on  our  well-won  laurels. 
We  shall  rest  and  rejoice. 

DUBOIS 

Oh,  Christophe !  ours  has  indeed  been  a  bloody  way 
— the  path  to  Empire  has  been  strewn  with  the  bodies 
of  both  friend  and  foe.  Ugh !  my  memories  are  of 
the  charnel  house;  even  now,  I  feel,  when  I  always 
believed,  my  heart  was  steeled,  an  over-shadowing 
remorse.  It  is  not  so  much  the  death  of  Dessalines — 
that  was  for  the  good  of  the  State, — but  Amede,  his 
death  was  needless — it  was  cruel — the  angry  sea  and 
the  scuttled  boat.  Constantly,  in  the  small  hours,  I 
hear  his  cries  for  vengeance. — Go,  see  Sans  Souci,  and 
its  pleasures  —  Have  your  feast  of  glory  —  I,  I  will 
never  reach  there. 

CHRISTOPHE 

Your  fears  are  useless.  Does  my  brave  comrade  in 
arms,  who  has  courted  death  on  many  a  battlefield, 
now  speak  of  fear?  Nay,  shame  upon  it — It  is  not 
Armand  Dubois  that  speaks — he  has  not  the  soul  of 
a  poltroon. 

DUBOIS 

Ay,  all  foes  thus  far  have  I  conquered.  Face  to  face, 
steel  to  steel,  I  have  met  them  and  seen  them  fall  never 
to  rise  again;  but  these  were  not  spectres — I  could 
grip  them  by  the  throat ;  I  could  seize  them  by  the  hair 
of  the  head ;  upon  my  face  I  could  feel  the  warmth 
of  the  bated  breath  ;  against  my  breast,  I  felt  the  pump- 
ing heart — I  felt  the  death  grip — All,  all  without  and 
naught  within. — Foes  say  I  have  no  conscience — no 
inner  monitor.  They  may  be  right;  but  well  I  know 

64 


that  I  have  a  hell  within  me. — I  fear,  I  know  not  why 
— yet  fear  I  must. 

CHRISTOPHE 

Comrade,  as  I  love  you,  you  of  all  mankind,  I  tell 
you  my  heart  is  steeped  so  dark  in  guilt,  that  the 
stormy  night  off  Firmin  pales  before  it. — Only  last 
night,  as  I  rested  on  my  couch,  studying  further 
deeds  of  violence — new  schemes  for  the  engulfment  of 
my  enemies — with  these  eyes  I  saw  gathered  about  me 
two  hundred  souls,  that  on  a  single  night  I  hurled  into 
eternity,  that  the  secret  of  my  stronghold  would  pass 
with  them — You  remember  the  fifth  of  May,  Armand ; 
you  remember  the  poisoned  workmen?  Ah,  let  me 
be  frank  with  you, — dearly  as  I  esteem  you,  had  you, 
you  known  the  secret  outlet  of  my  palace,  you,  too, 
would  have  gone  the  way  of  the  rest.  The  secret  of 
Sans  Souci  must  be  mine,  alone — alone — alone. — Pere 
L'  Avenge 

DUBOIS 

What  again  that  name ! — Henri,  tell  me  that  he  of 
all  men,  does  not  share  your  secret. 

CHRISTOPHE 

Not  even  you.  (Aside)  The  secrets  of  the  Con- 
fessional are  inviolate.  How  many  priests  have  I 
tortured  to  learn  its  secrets  and — failed.  (Aloud) 
Last  night,  about  my  couch,  those  familiar  faces  gath- 
ered.— At  me  they  looked  sad ;  awful  and  threatening, 
and  ere  they  vanished  from  my  presence,  their  purple 
lips  hissed:  "Fiend — fiend" — and  I  laughed,  laughed 
so  loudly,  the  sentinels  moved  nearer  to  my  couch,  and 
I  slept — slept  as  peaceful  as  a  newborn  babe. 

65 


DUBOIS 

Oh,  man  of  iron !  would  that  I  had  your  heart ! 

CHRISTOPHE 

Ha!  ha!  and  head,  too! — There  rests  the  soul  of 
man.  If  'twere  not  so,  we  were  all  brutes.  Which  one 
of  us  but  at  times  feels  the  presence  of  the  unwelcome 
guests — those  who  have  gone  before?  Those  perhaps 
we  wittingly  helped  on  their  way,  whose  passing  was 
necessary  that  others,  more  deserving,  might  live. — 
Life  fattens  on  still  other  lives — the  Foolahs  eat  the 
heart  of  the  brave  foe,  who  courageously  dared  death 
and  died. — The  stealthy  is  the  leopard  and  tiger-cat; 
the  warrior  with  the  lion-heart  stands  at  bay  and  roars, 
that  danger  may  advance.  The  very  fibers  and  juices 
of  these  frames  were  born  and  nourished  by  like  ele- 
ments— they  of  the  finer  clay — From  the  fields  and 
from  the  waters;  fom  the  heights  of  the  air;  the  un- 
seen depths  of  the  soil,  we  annihilate  that  we  may  live. 
Why  then  remorse,  undying  hate,  for  the  use  of  those 
things  so  necessary  to  our  being?  Nay,  Armand,  thy 
soul — the  very  essence  of  thy  being,  is  the  mind 
supreme,  over  and  above  all  else  that  man  holds  dear 
in  this  world,  or  in  the  next. — The  next — a  problem 
yet  unsolved;  an  estate  unknown;  tenanted  with  the 
chimera  of  a  disordered  spleen — Out  upon  your  dreams 
— figment  of  the  meaner  clay  we  must  throw  off. 

DUBOIS 

Thy  philosophy,  O !  Christophe,  is  a  part  of  you ; 
in  me  it  finds  no  dwelling  place.  Mine  eyes  see,  mine 
ears  hear,  and  the  voice  of  memory  will  not  die.  Per- 
haps it  is  the  meaner  clay  of  which  you  speak — death 
alone  can  purge  me. 

66 


SENTINEL 

Who  goes  there?  (Christophe  and  Dubois  come 
forward.  Voice  from  without,  "Amis.")  Advance 
and  give  the  countersign.  (Enter  Generals  Claudaine, 
LaBille  and  Pierre.  They  salute  C.  and  D.) 

CHRISTOPHE 

Speak  first,  Claudaine.  What  news  of  Cape  Fran- 
cois? 

CLAUDAINE 

Majesty,  the  enemy  were  defeated  at  Passe  de 
Parge ;  we  have  possession  of  the  citadel,  also  the  out- 
lets to  the  city. 

CHRISTOPHE 

"Tis  well.  And  you,  LaBille,  have  you  good  mes- 
sage for  us? 

LA  BILLE 

The  enemy  have  regained  the  munitions  of  war 

CHRISTOPHE 

What  say  you  ?  —  Regained  the  stores  ?  —  Craven, 
where  were  you? 

LA  BILLE 

In  the  thickest  of  the  fight,  and  as  you  see,  sorely 
wounded. 

CHRISTOPHE 

Sorely  wounded?  Not  dead  to  atone  the  guilt  of 
your  recreancy? — Sorely  wounded,  and  your  charge  in 
the  hands  of  the  enemy.  By  what  right  are  you  alive 
to  tell  it?  (Drawing  pistol.)  Die,  foulest  of  men — 
coward!  (Dubois  stays  the  hand  of  Christophe.) 

67 


DUBOIS 

This  can  abide — there  are  things  that  we  should 
know. 

CHRISTOPHE 

Aside,  coward,  you  are  no  soldier — And  now,  my 
brave  Pierre,  speak  not  in  flattery ;  as  thy  wont,  good 
tidings  ever. 

PIERRE 

0  Christophe ! — stay  not  his  hand,   Dubois,   for   I 
would  die,  my  master — our  troops  are  scattered,  and 
the  enemy  are  preparing  to  storm  Sans  Souci 

CHRISTOPHE 

Storm  Sans  Souci,  ha !  ha ! — storm  Sans  Souci ! 
— Now  you  would  be  merry,  my  old  comrade. — Storm 
Sans  Souci,  the  impregnable! — might  as  well  storm 
the  kingdom  of  heaven  with  a  Flemish  catapult,  ha! 
ha  ! — ho !  ho  ! — Stand  aside,  old  soldier ;  live  for  the 
nights  at  Sans  Souci — those  merry  nights  you  know 
so  well — the  Ballet  of  the  Sirens,  and  such  pipes  of 
wine  to  drown  your  sorrows.  What  think  you, 
Dubois  ? 

DUBOIS 

1  have  spoken. 

CHRISTOPHE 

True,  and  so  have  I — Is  there  aught  more  of  dis- 
aster? 

PIERRE 
All  we  have,  we  tell  your  Majesty. 

CHRISTOPHE 

Enough  ! — Remain  in  camp ;  I'll  find  tasks  that  will 
merit  your  success.  (Generals  retire  to  background.) 

68 


SENTINEL 

Who  goes  there  ?    Ah  !  'tis  Pere  L' Avenge. 

DUBOIS 

Again — the  shadow  of  Death,  the  shadow  that  goes 
before. 

(Enter  Pere  L' Avenge,  who  salutes  Christophe,  and 
for  a  moment  steadily  regards  Dubois.  The  latter 
seemingly  cowered  by  the  presence.) 

PERE  L' AVENGE 

Your  Majesty,  all  goes  well. 

CHRISTOPHE 

Always,  ami  cheri,  you  come  into  my  life  a  bright 
shaft  of  sunlight — you  disperse  the  sombre  clouds  my 
comrades  in  arms  would  make  for  me.  Bish !  it  was 
not  always  thus.  In  the  fierce  fight  to  the  death,  amid 
deadly  alarms,  whistling  shot,  and  stenching  smoke, 
and  curses  of  the  wounded — all,  all  music  to  my  ears 
and  incense  to  my  soul — they,  too,  were  fiercely  glad. 
— And  at  the  board,  where  the  red  wine  flows  freely, 
amid  boast  and  ribald  jest,  merry  music  and  the  sen- 
suous galloping  of  statuesque  women,  they  forsooth, 
as  brave  men  should,  were  fit  companions  of  the  sated 
soldier. 

PERE  L' AVENGE 

As  it  should  be ;  idleness  wears  sadly  on  the  warrior 
born  to  his  trade.  Brave  men  are  these,  that  need  no 
surcease  from  their  arduous  tasks.  But  I,  a  priest  of 
Peace — must  speak  of  the  after  life,  where  all  is  re- 
warded or  for  eternity  —  punished.  But  of  other 
things  I  would  speak.  As  thou  knowest,  my  habit 

69 


admits  me  to  go  unmolested  where  all  may  not  ven- 
ture, and  I  have  learned  that  Porte  au  Prince  has  been 
abandoned  by  your  foes 

CHRISTOPHE 
Hear,  hear !  Dubois  ! 

DUBOIS 
Would  that  I  could  believe. 

PERE  L' AVENGE 

and  Rigaud  refuses  to  act  with  Boyer  as  his 

lieutenant.  They  separated  at  Germain ;  Rigaud  is  to 
return  to  France. 

DUBOIS 

(Aside  to  Christophe)  Believe  not  a  word  he  says — 
he  lies  most  infernally. 

CHRISTOPHE 
What! 

DUBOIS 

Who  usually  is  so  wise ;  why  be  deceived  by  the  im- 
probable ? 

CHRISTOPHE 

You  envy  what  I  would  hear.  Bish !  I  believe  all. 
We  for  the  battle  field — he  for  the  Council  Chamber. 
Good  Father,  pray  tell  me  is  it  your  judgment  we  go 
to  Sans  Souci,  or  that  we  remain  in  camp? 

PERE  L'AVENGE 

To  Sans  Souci  by  all  means,  and  at  once.  Tempt 
fortune  not  too  often.  Rest  betimes,  that  your  sorely 

70 


fatigued  soldiers  may  rest,  after  the  rough  usage  of  the 
field.  Who  knows  what  the  dawning  day  brings  forth 
— who  knows ! 


CHRISTOPHE 


Well  said  good  sir.  Dubois  give  the  order  for  the 
break  of  camp.  Ah,  comrade,  such  nights  as  confront 
us !  Brave  comrades,  we  push  forward  this  very 
night,  for  the  path  to  Sans  Souci  is  clear  of  the  enemy. 


DUBOIS 


With  your  permission,  I  will  remain  in  Camp,  but 
for  a  few  hours.  I  hope  your  Majesty  will  accord  me 
this  boon? 


CHRISTOPHE 


We  would  be  better  satisfied  that  you  accompany  us : 
but  delay  not  long,  for  we  will  uneasily  await  you. 
Au  revoir!  (As  Christophe  moves  off,  Dubois  first 
hesitates,  and  then  joins  him.) 


DUBOIS 

Christophe,  my  King,  my  friend,  let  us  embrace — 
the  last  time,  perhaps,  the  last  time  on  earth.  Some- 
thing tells  me  this  is  our  last  meeting — nay  you  will 
survive  me,  how  long  I  know  not;  but  I  feel  it  is  so. 
(They  embrace.) 

CHRISTOPHE 

Fear  not  comrade,  it  is  these  humors  that  again 
afflict  you.  It  is  not  Armand  that  speaks.  Hasten  your 
affairs  here,  I  advise,  and  soon  meet  with  us,  where 
noisome  vapors  fade  before  the  ever-rising  sun.  Re- 
member we  await  you — The  trumpet — the  trumpet! 
Dubois ;  the  signal  of  our  immediate  departure — Umph, 
— there  is  worse  than  fever  in  this  spot. 

71 


DUBOIS 

'Tis  well  your  Majesty — Sentinel,  have  the  trum- 
peter sound  orders  for  the  re — the  advance  on  Sans 
Souci.  (Trumpets.  Christophe,  L' Avenge  and  offi- 
cers leave.) 

DUBOIS 

O !  comrades  of  my  many  battles,  fare  you  well ; 
my  race  is  nigh  spent — my  oil  is  burned — Shades  of 
those  that  I  have  sent  before,  my  fate  must  be  as 
yours — it  is  meet,  it  is  just.  By  the  sword  have  I 
lived,  by  the  sword  must  I  die ;  and  die  I  will,  as  be- 
hooves a  soldier :  sword  in  hand,  face  to  face  with  the 
foe — asking  for  no  quarter,  and  giving  none.  Why 
not  go  before?  Christophe  will  follow  quickly — ay, 
more  quickly  than  he  wots.  Indeed,  as  Christophe  has 
said :  the  mind  is  the  soul  of  man — when  the  mind  is 
dead,  there  is  no  soul  in  the  moving,  throbbing  body — 
it  must  be  so,  for  conscience  and  memory  are  one,  and 
as  the  poet  has  said:  ''Conscience  makes  cowards  of 
us  all."  Mine  has  been  one  self-accusing  memory  of 
deeds  of  ruthless  violence.  (Enter  Pere  L' Avenge; 
sword  at  side.) 

What,  you  here  ?  you  false  priest — you  the  betrayer 
— the  dealer  in  the  fears  of  men — the  liar! 

PERE  L'AVENGE 

Exhaust  your  spleen.  Were  it  possible  to  coin  new 
names,  to  paint  your  murderous  guilt,  your  crimson 
dyed  soul  would  blanch  with  more  deadly  fear.  Mur- 
derer of  my  Amede — 

DUBOIS 

Amede  !  who  are  you  ?  Long  since  have  I  had  cause 
to  fear  you — to  feel  that  you  were  a  fearful  menace 

72 


to  the  State.  What  I  know  of  you,  is  little,  I  must 
confess,  but  what  I  would  know  of  you  is  much.  Your 
stealth,  the  serpent's  craft  of  creeping  unawares  into 
the  innermost  thoughts  of  men,  makes  dread  of  you 
ever  uppermost  in  my  mind.  Speak  foul  thing — for 
you  are  of  foul  intention — what  wish  you  of  me,  now 
that  you  have  returned  girded  with  the  sword  that  so 
ill  becomes  your  slight  form  and  priestly  garb — 
Speak,  and  that  quickly,  as  your  time  to  practice  your 
nefarious  trade  is  nearly  passed! — Speak  quickly — 
Speak  at  once  ! — What  wish  you  with  me  ? 

PERE  I/AVENGE 

I  would  prepare  you  for  your  death — your  death, 
poltroon — accursed  betrayer  of  men — debaucher  of 
women —  I  would  confess  you — Ha  !  ha  ! 

DUBOIS 
Again,  I  ask :  who  are  you  ? 

PERE  I/ AVENGE 

Know  then  that  I  am  no  priest. 

DUBOIS 

Ah,  as  I  thought  a  spy  of  Boyer — 
PERE  L'AVENGE 

The  avenger  of  a  most  grievous  wrong — the  be- 
trayal and  murder  of  Amede. 

DUBOIS 
Again,  I  ask:  who  are  you? 

PERE  L'AVENGE 

I  am  one,  who  once  was  known  to  the  world  as :  Va- 
lerie— the  betrothed  of  Amede,  thy  victim. 

73 


DUBOIS 

Unsexed  woman — Great  God,  the  confidante  of 
Christophe — Infamy  of  crime — You,  then,  know 
the  secret  of  Sans  Souci  ?  • 


PERE  L  AVENGE 

I  knew  all — Boyer  knows  all — when  the  proper  time 
comes. 

DUBOIS 

(Drawing  his  sword.)     The  time  is  passed  then;  it 
shall  never  come  to  you ! 


(On  guard  with  drawn  sword.)  Make  your  final 
settlement — the  God  of  Justice  fortifies  this  weak  arm 
— vengeance  is  in  this  slight  frame  of  which  you  would 
sneer.  Death,  grim  death,  awaits  you  on  this  sharp 
point,  of  which  you  would  scorn,  and — hell  yawns  for 
your  guilty  soul.  Come  to  the  charge — God  is  just ! 
(Dubois  crosses  swords  with  L' Avenge.  Alphonse  de 
Pays  enters  swiftly ;  he  gently  puts  aide  L' Avenge,  and 
catches  the  sword  of  Dubois  on  his  own.) 

DUBOIS 

What,  what  specter  is  this  ?  Alphonse  de  Pays ! 
— Whence  come  ye,  brigand  ? 

ALPHONSE  DE  PAYS 

From  the  grave  of  Paula — from  commune  with  the 
manes  of  Dessalines — from  the  jaws  of  hell,  that  are 
hungry  for  you. 

74 


DUBOIS 


Boaster!  I  would  take  you  with  me!  (Their 
swords  clash  in  deadly  combat.  Sound  of  conflict  in 
distance ;  wild  huzzas ;  tramp  of  numerous  feet — feet 
of  battle.) 


DUBOIS 

Ah,  false  priest, — listen — it  is  your  work;  would 
that  you  were  before  me — Mark  not  the  delay;  it  is 
your  time  next!  (Dubois  fiercely  lunges;  de  Pays' 
point  pierces  his  breast;  Dubois  falls,  as  de  Pays  at- 
tempts to  pin  the  half-reclining  man;  Dubois  raises, 
and  thrusts  de  Pays,  the  latter  falls  dead.  Words  of 
the  conclusion  of  the  Marseillaise  sang  in  chorus,  as 
from  a  distance.  Shouts :  "Boyer !  Boyer !"  L' Avenge 
kneeling  beside  the  body  of  de  Pays.  Dubois  in  death 
throes.) 


DUBOIS 

Christophe !  Christophe !  welcome  death,  horror,  'tis 
the  face  of  Dessalines — I  come,  I  come — but,  my  en- 
emy follows — 

PERE  L'AVENGE 

(Arising.)  Christophe  follows  you.  (Signal  guns 
at  sea:  one  shot.) 

PERE  L'AVENGE 

(Points  to  body  of  Dubois.)  It  is  he.  (Signal 
guns:  two  shots.) 

75 


PERE  L  AVENGE 


(As  if  departing.)     It  is  for  Christophe !     (Signal 
guns:  three  shots.     Pere  L' Avenge  stands  aghast.) 


PERE  L  AVENGE 


"Vengeance,  vengeance  is  mine,"  not  thine.     (Shot.) 
For  me ! 

CURTAIN 


ACT  IV 

(THE  BANQUETING  HALL  OF  SANS  Souci.  Every- 
thing arranged  for  a  magnificent  feast.  A  dais  for  the 
Emperor,  and  places  for  his  immediate  escort.  Space 
before  the  throne  for  the  Ballet  of  the  Sirens.  At  the 
opening  of  this  scene,  servants  and  guards  are  prepar- 
ing what  they  believe  will  be  a  great  ovation  for  the 
returning  victors.) 

JACQUES 

Call  me  no  more  the  Chevalier;  I  am  all  in — in  the 
tureen.  Those  of  us  who  are  not  dead — will  be  com- 
mon, very  ordinary  citizens.  Pish  !  Je  suis  fatigue  ! 

SUSANNE 

Jacques,  remember  the  grande  couchon — O !  how 
many  to  feed ;  the  hungry  swine ! — Pigs  eat  pigs — be 
quick ! 

JACQUES 

C'est  bien,  ma  cheri — my  beautiful — Is  it  not  so  my 
Susaiine?- — Is  it  not  so  my  queen — 

SUSANNE 

Shut  up  impertinent ; — shut  up ! 

JACQUES 
'Tis  so — Can  I  speak  a  word? 

SUSANNE 

One  word,  only. 

JACQUES 

Well-- 

77 


SUSANNE 

You  have  said  it. 

JACQUES 
With  your  permission — 

SUSANNE 

To  work — I  will  say  all  there  is  to  say. 

JACQUES 
It  is  the  prerogative  of  the  sex — I  will — 

SUSANNE 

Shut  up ! 

JACQUES 

It  is  well — No  it  is  best.     Ah,  just  to  think — 

SUSANNE 

Think,  think  and  work — You  know  the  program; 
one  hundred  to  feed  tonight ;  and  that  abominable  bal- 
let— Ah,  you  have  not  got  your  mother  now — You 
have  me — me  alone. 

JACQUES 
What  a  blessing !     But,  alone. 

SUSANNE 

Say  it  again. 

JACQUES 
I  dare  not. 

SUSANNE 

Coward ! 

78 


JACQUES 

No,  No,  only  your  husband.  (Enter  La  Belle,  pre- 
miere danseuse,  accompanied  by  coryphees  and  Cavi- 
liers.  Servants  still  busily  engaged  arranging  food  on 
tables.  Sound  of  signal  guns  from  Mainland.  Enter 
Officers  and  Guard  in  disorder.) 

FIRST  OFFICER 

The  boats  are  landing — The  signals  mean  pursuit! 
(At  once  disorder;  all  make  for  the  exits,  except  Jac- 
ques and  Susanne.) 

SUSANNE 

Now  Jacques,  aside  with  all  your  airs,  and  do  as  I 
have  directed.  I  see  that  you  have  already  greedy 
eyes  for  those  thinly  clad  coryphees — Bish !  what 
taste  you  men  have. 

JACQUES 

Nay,  not  taste— It  is  an  eye  for  the  artistic — the 
beautiful —  Such  form — such  convolutions — Ah, — my 
poor  Susanne — my  own  wife. 

SUSANNE 

Bish ! — you  stay  here —  I  go  to  the  cuisine,  and  you 
— you  look  after  the  table. 

JACQUES 

You  go — how  I  adore  you — you  are  so  considerate 
— you  go.  (Exit  Susanne;  enter  La  Belle  cloaked.) 

LA   BELLE 

You  old  fool — I  really  love  you — Oh,  yes  it  is  true. 
79 


JACQUES 

La  Belle — La  Belle,  ma  cheri ! — Yes,  you  love  me. 
And — why  ? 

LA   BELLE 

You  know  where  are  the  Money  Chests — the  jewels 
— O !  how  I  love  the  sparkling  jewels — to  adorn  my 
person — to  make  my  dear  Jacques  admire — to  love  me 
so  much  more — to  make  him  proud  and  happy;  to 
dream  of  me;  to — 

JACQUES 

To  cost  him  more. 

LA   BELLE 

I  pout ! 

JACQUES 

Now  ma  coquette,  you  are  adorable — but  let  me 
tell  you  I  attended  the  Seminaire  de  Trois  Rivieres. 
I — I,  your  Jacques  learned  the  classics — Latin,  Greek 
and  English — I  astonish  you — this  was  before  I  had 
an  ambition — this  was  before  you,  my  adorable,  had 
the  good  fortune  to  know  me.  But  now,  I  am  such 
a  child — an  enfant  terrible — a  fish,  a  fish  out  of  its 
element.  Landed  by  you,  most  fortunate  of  women. 
Perhaps — perhaps,  I  am  amphibious. 

LA   BELLE 

Tell  me — tell  me! 

JACQUES 
I  learned  that  leaders  of  men  were  born,  not  made. 

LA   BELLE 

You  were  then  born  ? 

80 


JACQUES 

Does  it  astonish  you? 

LA   BELLE 

It  is  so  hard  to  believe — Can  it  be  possible  ? 

JACQUES 

All  things  are  possible — if  you  only  know  how.  Now 
listen — it  is  so  difficult  for  the  sex — Perish  books — it 
is  the  publisher.  Writing  books  is  an  insult  to  the 
budding  intelligence — a  fruit  that  never  matures. 
Language  is  the  jingle  of  coin.  Shakespeare  was  but 
a  poor  horsethief — a  tavern  hanger-on — Ben  Johnson, 
a  pot-house  soak — Julius  Caesar  had  he  not  written 
his  commentaries,  or  meditated  being  his  own  press 
agent,  would  never  have  crossed  the  Rubicon — he 
would  have  died  first,  and  that  too,  without  the  as- 
sistance of  his  beloved  Brute — Socrates  was  a  suicide 
— Bish !  he  was  a  fool — Are  you  listening  ? 

LA  BELLE 

I  am  listening;  so  entertaining,  so  instructive,  so — 
ridiculous.  Indeed,  I  am  listening. 

JACQUES 

Wonderful,  she  is  listening — and  a  woman  at  that. 
We  do  not  need  architects ;  we  do  not  need  brain ;  but 
we  must  have  wine  and  women, — and  Money.  Get 
the  latter,  and  in  time  the  rest  will  come,  slowly  prob- 
ably, but  surely,  generally.  Did  you  ever  see  a  gen- 
ius without  some  glaring  fault,  that  would  not  make 
the  rabble  laugh,  and  point  to  that  fault  as  a  positive 
evidence  that  bloated  ignorance  discounts  such  a  trifling 
thing  as  an  education?  He  is  bright — he  fairly  scin- 
tilates — and  the  air — the  attar  of  roses?  Nay,  La 

81 


Belle,  the  odoriferous  pungency  of  the  barbarous  gar- 
lic,— an  atmosphere  that  regales  the  nostrils  of  the 
common  herd,  at  once  compellent,  repellent  and — ex- 
cellent. I  know,  ma  cheri.  When  he  dies — Bish !  let 
him  rot  in  his  grave,  and  his  m — 

LA   BELLE 

His  money  goes  to  his  heirs. 
JACQUES 

Money,  say  you  La  Belle?  When  the  muses  have 
called  him  to  the  lyre  and  laurel,  all  he  leaves  to  pos- 
terity is  his  memory  and  his — breath.  And  if  by  some 
mischance  of  fortune,  he  leaves  money  his  ungrateful 
admirers  will  raise  a  huge  shaft  of  granite,  or  of  some 
or  other  very  heavy  substance  over  his  still  form,  so 
that  he  may  not  return,  and  call  it  something  like 
this:  "The  Chevalier  Memorial,"  and  he,  poor  blight 
will  turn  over  in  his  grave,  so  happy,  so  contented  that 
he  died.  Now  La  Belle  you  can  speak. 

LA   BELLE 

Where  is  kept  the  treasure  chest — Should  the  enemy 
overcome  Christophe,  we  will  be  so  rich — so  rich. 
(  Stamping  her  foot. )  Tell  me — quick ! 

JACQUES 
Ah,  ma  petite,  you  shall  know — it  is  in  the  tunnel. 

LA   BELLE 

O !  Jacques,  I  returned  to  tell  you  it  will  break  my 
heart — the  heart  that  beats  for  you  alone — should  you 
neglect  to  escort  me  to  the  Treasury  Chamber,  when 
the  conflict  is  over. 

82 


JACQUES 

O!  La  Belle,  why  did  you  return? — I  love  you  so, 
but  I  respect  Susanne — one  as  necessary  for  my  peace 
of  mind  as  the  other,  with  only  this  difference:  I  love 
to  love,  I  respect  because  I — must.  Susanne  has  power 
— she  has  jaws  with  hinges — she  is  my  wife — she  can 
make  me  tired — ennuyant.  We  have  four  little  ones — 
she  promises  them  that  they  can  have  their  own  sweet 
ways ;  if  they  report  morning  and  night  the  doings  of 
their  strenuous  papa — They  look  upon  their  papa  as 
an  unnecessary  implement  of  torture — he  selfishly  in- 
terferes with  their  infantine  sports  of  making  mucl- 
pies  of  household  quiet — the  beast.  Then  she  has 
brothers,  they  are  muscular — they  are  built  like  draft 
horses — they  can  do  real  hard  work,  it  would  be  easy 
work  to  beat  the  unnecessary  brother-in-law  into  com- 
plete subjection.  And  he  has  such  a  tender  conscience 
— it  would  trouble  him  so  much  to  be  chastised  by 
them — he  might  lose  his  serene  temper — and — perma- 
nently remove  them.  Ah,  Susanne  is  a  martyr  and  has 
her  way — everybody  pities  her,  so  easy  to  them,  so  ex- 
acting with  me — tender,  tough — warm  and  cold — under 
the  heat  of  sympathy,  like  an  icicle  she  fairly  melts 
— she  weeps.  Her  daughters  fairly  dote  on  her — she 
is  so  easy  with  her  girls  and  their  beaux ;  she  is  so  de- 
termined when  she  says  :  "Jac(lues«  shut-up,  shut-up." 
Through  her  daughters  she  is  getting  young  again — 
she  is  getting  fat,  and — I  love  you. 

LA   BELLE 

O !  mon  Chevalier,  I  so  much  adore  you — you  are 
my  life — you  are  my — 

JACQUES 

— Treasury  Chest. — Bish !  when  its  contents  are 
gone — you  like  the  rest  of  your  sex — gone. 

83 


LA  BELLE 

And  why  not? 

JACQUES 

Good;  you  are  not  my  wife;  I  know  what  to  ex- 
pect— I  get  it. — Susanne,  my  wife  keeps  me  guessing 
— I  am  anchored — I  have  nailed  my  flag  to  the  mast, 
four  spikes,  though  a  weak  mast.  She  is  the  keeper 
of  my  honor;  the  guardian  angel  of  my  home — I  am 
her  protege — she  is  my  incubus. 

LA   BELLE 

Tonight,  my  dear  Jacques,  I  will  dance  as  never  be- 
fore. And  you  will — adore  me.  (Noise  without  of 
approaching  people.) 

JACQUES 

Go — Go !  they  come. — I  mean  Susanne  returns — Au 
revoir!  (Enter  Christophe,  Pierre,  Officers  and  Peo- 
ple. La  Belle  throwing  kiss  to  Jacques  withdraws.) 

CHRISTOPHE 

Treachery  somewhere,  I  tell  you — How  they  did  be- 
set us;  but  we  worsted  them — Poor  Labille  and 
Claudaine — the  fortunes  of  war.  Ere  this,  my  friend 
Dubois  has  settled  his  final  accounts — His  ominous 
prophesies  have  been  fulfilled — as  far  as  concerns  him- 
self.— Say  you  not  so  Pierre. 

PIERRE 

It  is  my  belief,  your  Majesty.  The  enemy  found 
him,  when  they  took  possession  of  the  deserted  camp. 

CHRISTOPHE 

And  Pere  L' Avenge,  what  became  of  him? — Me- 
84 


thinks  his  escapes  are  miraculous — I  looked  for  him 
at  the  boat-landing,  when  consorted  to  Sans  Souci. 

PIERRE 

He  may  be  on  the  Island,  in  this  very  Palace,  at 
this  very  moment.  His  ways  are  indeed — to  say  the 
least  mysterious. 

CHRISTOPHE 

Yes — sometimes,  I  think — I  know  not  what. — Dubois 
so  mistrusted  him. 

PIERRE 
And  L' Avenge — he  fairly  hated  Dubois. 

CHRISTOPHE 

Not  so — He  mistrusted  Dubois,  he  told  me  all.  All 
my  life  is  has  been  thus  with  me;  a  constant  care  to 
reconcile  my  friends  one  with  the  other — all  loyal  to 
me,  but  one  jealous  of  the  other — It  is  the  penalty 
that  great  power  brings,  having  so  many  friends  to 
reward — so  many  enemies  to  punish — Irreconciable 
differences  in  the  ranks  of  those,  who  in  all  things 
should  be  united  for  the  common  good. — But  enough 
of  this — Music  and  the  feast!  (Christophe  ascends 
throne.  Jacques  presents  him  with  bumper  of  wine. 
Glasses  filled  for  others.) 

CHRISTOPHE 

Here — to  the  discomfiture  of  mine  enemy,  and  the 
pleasure  of  the  hour ! 

OMNES 
Vive  la  Patrie — Vive  I 

85 


(The  Ballet) 

(At  the  height  of  the  revelry,  the  clash  of  arms  and 
shots  are  heard — Confusion  reigns — the  dancers  stand 
aghast. — Enter  Officers  and  guard.) 

CHRISTOPHE 
What  means  this  revolt  in  my  Household? 

FIRST   OFFICER 

'Tis  worse,  your  Majesty, — the  enemy  have  entered 
the  outer  Court. 

CHRISTOPHE 

Entered  the  outer  Court — Nay,  impossible. — Surely 
not  by  the  boat-landing? 

SECOND  OFFICER 

No,  your  Majesty,  they  entered  by  the  Tunnel. 

CHRISTOPHE 

(Arising  in  great  excitement.)  What ! — I  have  been 
betrayed — But,  by  whom? 

PIERRE 

It  must  follow,  by  one  who  knew  the  secret  ingress. 

CHRISTOPHE 

Ah, — it  must  have  been  Dubois ;  he  learned  the  sec- 
ret in  my  speaking  dreams — I  betrayed  myself — He 
remained  behind  in  the  deserted  Camp. — Was  it  to 
trade  with  my  enemy  ?  He  last  embraced  me — Christ, 
too,  was  so  embraced  by  his  servant — The  traitor's 
kiss  is  bidding  a  last  farewell,  to  departed  manhood. 

86 


CHRISTOPHE— "YOU,    YOU   WERE   FALSE" 

88 


PIERRE 

Nay,  not  Dubois, — in  his  heart  he  loved  you.  (In- 
creased sound  of  desperate  conflict.  All  leave  Hall,  in 
confusion,  save  Christophe  and  Pierre.) 

CHRISTOPHE 

I  had  been  warned;  he  loved  me  for  himself — He 
predicted,  only  this  day,  my  downfall — he  laid  the 
train — he  knew  that  I  was  going  to  my  death, — Ah, 
the  traitor — he  dared  not  witness  my  death — Bish !  it 
was  ever  thus  with  traitors,  those  upon  whom  you 
have  loaded  honors. 

PIERRE 

Why  speak  of  your  death? — The  conflict  endures — 
Our  guards  are  valiantly  fighting  each  advance — Lis- 
ten to  the  huzzas :  "patrie,  patrie !" — it  is  the  cry  of 
your  soldiers — We  shall  take  a  boat  and  in  the  con- 
fusion, fly. 

CHRISTOPHE 

And  where ! — Fly  from  the  glories  of  my  wars  and 
conquests — fly  from  myself — Nay,  I  will  die  as  befits 
me;  not  by  the  hands  of  assassins — not  a  captive  to 
the  victor's  chariot  wheels — I  will  not  die  derided,  de- 
spoiled, execrated  and  spat  upon  by  those  who  would 
gloat  in  mine  misery — Let  them  win ;  they  will  not  find 
Christophe  a  suppliant  for  fortune's  smiles — My  em- 
pire has  passed — It  is  Christophe  they  want  alive — Ah, 
they  will  find  me  even  proud  in  death — a  death  I,  my- 
self decreed — Pierre,  you  are  my  friend  ! 

PIERRE 

Unto  death,  your  Majesty. 
89 


CHRISTOPHE 

Call  me  not  Majesty — comrade  in  arms,  call  me 
Henri — call  me  brother — I  have  a  service  to  ask  of 
you. 

PIERRE 

Ask,  and  it  is  yours — ask  my  life,  and  I  shall  feel 
honored  beyond  my  deserts,  in  giving  it. 

CHRISTOPHE 

I  know — I  know — It  is  a  life;  but  not  thine,  good 
friend. 

PIERRE 

Name  whose  life,  and  I  will  sell  mine  in  purchasing 
it. 

CHRISTOPHE 

Good — hear — hear  the  enemy  appear  to  gain — Take 
my  sword,  it  is  unsheathed — I  kiss  its  blade — it  is  keen 
— Here  is  my  heart — thrust  quick — quick — do  not  fal- 
ter— Let  thy  eyes  be  blind  to  all  else  save  thy  aim — 
What  do  you  hesitate — Thrust  I  say — You  I  call 
Brother — Would  you  see  me  fall  into  the  hands  of 
mine  enemy — scoffed,  jeered  and  spat  upon — Would 
you  see  me  derided  in  my  captivity — Would  my 
BROTHER  see  Christophe  the  butt  of  laughter  for 
his  enemy? 

PIERRE 

Thou  hast  quite  overcome  me — Turn  thy  face — thy 
agony  will  overthrow  my  purpose — Only  blindly  can  I 
thrust  that  dear  heart  of  thine — Turn  thy  face — I  can- 
not bear  thy  woe—I  love  thee  too  much — Henri  bow 
thy  head. 

90 


CHRISTOPHE 

Be  brave,  Pierre,  I  never  bowed  my  head  to  any  man 
— I  cannot  even  do  this  now — I  ever  faced  death;  so 
let  me  die — Thrust — thrust — I  smile  upon  you — I  wel- 
come the  thrust  from  your  dear  hand — Strike —  strike, 
I  say— I,  Christophe— YOUR  EMPEROR  Command 
you— STRIKE! 

(Pierre  drops  sword  rushes  for  exit,  crying:  "Not 
my  hand — not  by  my  hand."  Sound  of  the  fall  of  the 
barricades.  Enter  Pere  L'Avenge.  Christophe  ha:> 
recovered  sword.) 

CHRISTOPHE 

Ah — good  Father,  take  this  sword,  and  thrust  it 
here, — here  with  my  last  earthly  thanks. 

PERE  L'AVENGE 

Let  it  be  by  thy  own  hand — Thy  closed  life  will 
have  been  better  ended — By  thy  own  hand,  and  thy 
valiant  deeds  will  have  rounded  out  as  befit  them. 

CHRISTOPHE 
So  say  you? 


I  have  said  it. 

CHRISTOPHE 

(Casting  sword  aside,  and  grasping  poniard  in  both 
hands)  Yes,  yes;  it  is  better  so.  (Plunges  poniard 
into  his  own  breast,  with  hands  still  grasping  handle 
of  poniard,  Christophe  staggers  toward  L'Avenge.) 

PERE  L'AVENGE 

My  work  is  done.     Miscreant,  vilest  of  men,  you 
91 


have  my  benediction — ha!  ha!  ha! — that  it  will  take 
your  foul  soul  to  hell.  I  am  no  priest ;  I  am  the  aven- 
ger of  Amede.  Learn  in  your  death  agony  that  I — I — 
Valerie  betrayed  you.  I — ha!  ha! — I  told  Boyer  the 
secret  of  the  tunnel.  I 

CHRISTOPHE 

YOU— YOU  did  this !  Dubois  was  right.  YOU— 
you — were  false — Forever — and  forever:  "Dieu  et 
Mon  Epee."  (Christophe  staggering  toward  L' Avenge, 
with  a  supreme  effort,  draws  poniard  from  his  own 
breast  and  thrusts  L' Avenge.  Both  fall  dead  simul- 
taneously. Enter  invaders  crying,  "Boyer,  Boyer!") 

(In  luminous  characters  high  above  appear,  "Ven- 
geance is  mine;  I  will  repay.") 

OMNES 

Vive  la  Republique  d'Haiti !   Vive  ! 
Finis. 


JAS.     B.     CLARKE,     WRITER.     ORATOR     AND     MAN     OF 
CLASS    HONORS 


Translation 

[By  Jas.  B.  Clarke,  Cornell  University  Class  '12.] 
Legation  of  the  Republic  of  Haiti, 

New  York,  May  31,  1893. 
Mr.  William  Easton, 

Dear  Sir:  I  have  had  the  privilege  of  receiving 
from  my  friend,  Mr.  Ruffin,  the  drama  entitled,  "Des- 
salines."  I  am  indeed  pleased  to  know  that  there  are 
in  America  men  who  are  working  to  make  known  the 
heroes  of  Haiti — slaves  but  yesterday,  the  morrow  exe- 
cuting the  most  difficult  project  of  taking  their  brothers 
out  of  slavery.  Dessalines,  at  whose  memory  every 
Haitian  removes  his  hat,  will  be  better  known  in 
America,  thanks  to  your  work. 

Permit  me,  dear  Sir,  to  thank  you  for  it  in  my  name 
and  in  fact  of  my  countrymen. 

Accept,  Sir,  the  assurance  of  my  most  distinguished 
consideration. 

(Signed)         C.  NICOLAS. 

A  JOB  FOR  UNCLE  SAM 

Twenty  or  thirty  years  ago  Sir  Spenser  St.  John 
announced  to  the  world  that  the  prophecy  of  the  be- 
lievers in  the  incapacity  of  the  Negro  had  been  ful- 
filled, and  that  after  nearly  a  century  of  freedom  and 
self-government  the  blacks  and  mulattos  of  Haiti  had 
brought  what  was  once  the  Pearl  of  the  Antilles,  the 
flower  of  West  Indian  civilization,  to  the  condition  of 
a  "country  of  barbarians."  This  conclusion  was  the 
result  of  close  observation  and  contact  with  Haitians 

95 


of  all  classes  during  the  many  years  that  the  author 
of  "Hayti,  or  the  Black  Republic,"  represented  the 
British  Government  at  Part-au-Prince. 

Sir  Spenser  St.  John  had  no  reason  to  calumniate  the 
Haitians.  Throughout  his  book  there  is  undeniably  a 
note  of  sincerity,  but  the  reader  should  not  fall  into  the 
error  of  generalizing  from  the  isolated  cases  which  he 
cites.  I  know  of  no  authoritative  denial  even  of  the 
gravest  charges  which  he  makes  against  Haiti,  and  I 
do  not  doubt  that,  as  he  says,  the  best  people  of  the 
country  confessed  that  he  had  written  "the  bitter 
truth,  but  the  truth." 

Spenser  St.  John  hoped  that  the  Haitians  would  take 
advantage  of  his  merciless  expose  of  their  weaknesses 
and  stop  their  petty  bickerings  in  order  to  work  to- 
gether to  better  the  condition  of  their  country.  Since 
the  appearance  of  his  and  other  books  of  the  same 
type,  the  citizens  of  the  Black  Republic  have  cele- 
brated with  great  rejoicing  the  centenary  of  their  in- 
dependence. In  reviewing  their  history,  they  found 
that  they  had  much  to  be  proud  of  and  as  much  to  be 
ashamed  of.  But  they  resolved  to  profit  by  the  mis- 
takes of  the  past.  All  parties  and  factions,  all  shades 
of  color,  all  degrees  of  intelligence  were  animated  by 
the  supreme  desire  to  work  shoulder  to  shoulder  for 
the  uplift  of  Haiti.  Yet  from  1904  to  the  present  time 
the  history  of  Haiti  has  been  a  series  of  exiles  and  po- 
litical murders,  of  incendiarism  and  pillage  and  riot  and 
mob  rule  under  the  dignified  title  of  "revolution."  Is 
it  any  wonder  that  an  American  editor  who  has  re- 
cently travelled  throughout  the  length  and  breadth  of 
the  republic  has  got  the  impression  that  "civilization  is 
practically  extinct  among  a  population  of  two  millions 
of  Negroes." 

"There  is  no  sadder  sight  than  a  Haitian  town," 
96 


this  writer  continues,  "such  as  Port-au-Prince,  Aux 
Cayes,  or  Jacmel — clusters  of  huts  amid  ruins  of  pal- 
aces, nauseating  in  lazy  degradation,  sore  with  filth. 
But  it  is  only  in  these  four  or  five  coast  towns  that 
there  is  any  knowledge  at  all  of  the  world,  any  pre- 
tense of  order.  Everywhere  else  are  the  jungle,  the 
half-naked  Negro  and  his  women,  the  opulent  land 
filled  with  a  race  of  beings  little  better  than  beasts,  with 
foot-paths  for  its  only  highways,  with  basilisks  bask- 
ing on  the  displaced  stones  of  its  once  great  public 
works,  and  the  tropical  silence  broken  rarely,  except 
by  the  sound  of  tom-toms  summoning  to  superstitious 
rites."  *  *  * 

This  picture  of  Haiti  is  no  doubt  as  true  to  life  as 
that  of  St.  John,  but  it  is  not  the  only  picture  that  the 
foreigner  makes.  Many  travelers  in  Haiti  get  a  far 
more  pleasant  and  hopeful  view  even  of  the  interior 
districts.  It  all  depends  on  the  way  of  looking  at 
things.  Booker  T.  Washington  has  said  that  results, 
especially  in  the  case  of  the  Negro,  should  be  judged, 
not  by  their  intrinsic  value,  but  by  the  obstacles  sur- 
mounted in  attaining  them.  Sir  Spenser  St.  John  and 
the  editor  of  the  World's  Work  have  compared  Haiti 
as  it  is  with  England  and  America  as  they  are.  They 
should  have  matched  Pitt  or  Washington  and  the  peo- 
ple whom  they  led  with  Dessalines  and  his  followers. 
The  writer  of  the  editorial ,  above  quoted  assures  me 
that  although  his  picture  of  Haiti  is  as  dark  as  the 
inhabitants  of  the  country,  he  has  no  personal  dislike 
for  the  Haitian  people,  and  counts  among  his  friends 
such  men  as  General  F.  "But,"  he  continues,  "what- 
ever may  be  said  in  defense  of  the  Haitian  people,  it 
cannot  be  denied  that  the  Negro  in  Hispaniola  has  not 
made  a  shining  example  of  self-government." 

97 


TOUSSAINT    L'OUVERTURE,    THE    EMANCIPATOR 

[From  rare  old  prints.] 

If  the  Negro  in  Hispaniola  had  reached  the  same 
degree  of  civilization  as  the  Caucausian  in  America 
when  he  freed  himself  from  European  rule,  he  could 
not  have  developed  a  government  like  that  of  the 
United  States,  and  this  is  by  no  means  "a  shining  exam- 
ple of  self-government."  From  the  very  beginning,  His- 
paniola has  been  a  land  of  disorder  and  chaos.  The 
first  European  settlers  in  Haiti  were  pirates  and  bucca- 

98 


neers,  men  who  obeyed  no  law  and  recognized  no  au- 
thority but  that  of  the  cannon  ball  and  the  broadsword. 
In  the  eighteenth  century,  during  which  the  French 
colonized  the  country  permanently  and  developed  its 
agricultural  resources,  the  spirit  of  militarism  was  at 
its  height.  Every  man  was  a  duelist;  every  man  was 
a  soldier,  for  the  country  stood  in  constant  dread  of 
invasion  and  needed  defenders.  Then  came  the  Amer- 
ican War  of  Independence  and  the  French  Revolution, 
which  further  strengthened  the  spirit  of  unrest. 

Such  is  the  example  that  the  white  people  set  to  the 
thirty  thousand  blacks  whom  they  imported  annually 
from  Africa.  These  slaves,  for  the  most  part  un- 
tutored savages,  with  the  aid  of  a  few  black  and  mu- 
latto freedmen  overthrew  the  slave-holding  govern- 
ment and  founded  the  Haitian  nation  of  free  men. 
From  that  time — 1804 — to  this  Haiti  has  received  no 
word  of  advice  or  encouragement,  no  tender  of  aid, 
from  nations  better  schooled  in  the  ways  of  govern- 
ment. Transported  to  a  climate  identical  with  their 
own,  the  African  blacks  have  maintained  in  the  Haitian 
forests  the  customs  of  their  brothers  in  the  jungles 
of  the  dark  continent.  Missionaries  and  teachers  are 
sent  to  Africa.  How  many  have  gone  to  Haiti?  Yet 
the  world  is  shocked  to  hear  of  Obeah  and  Voodottx 
among  the  lower  classes  in  Haiti.  Hesketh  Pritchard, 
a  recent  English  writer,  laughs  at  the  Haitians  because 
of  the  failure  of  their  electric  light  plant.  Nearly 
all  Haitian  homes  are  lighted  with  kerosene,  yet  Hai- 
ti enjoys  no  Rockefeller  Education  Fund.  Haitian 
rebels  and  government  troops  have  worn  out  much 
shell,  but  Haiti  does  not  possess  what  exists  in  the 
smallest  British  West  India  island — a  Carnegie  Li 
brary ! 

99 


GEN.   JEAN    JACQUES    DESSALINES 
[From  rare  old  prints.] 

No  race  or  nation  has  ever  attained  any  great  degree 
of  civilization  without  coming  in  contact  with  other 
peoples.  England,  not  Thibet,  is  the  most  powerful 
country  in  the  world.  Expansion  and  intercourse,  not 
isolation,  is  the  way  to  progress.  Haiti  cannot  con- 
quer the  world.  The  world  must  conquer  Haiti,  not 
with  fire  and  sword,  but  with  the  book  and  the  plow. 
Few  Haitians  can  go  to  foreign  countries ;  many  for- 
eigners can  and  ought  to  go  to  Haiti.  The  greatest 
impulse  to  the  advancement  of  the  Negro  in  America 
is  his  competition  with  the  white  man.  The  presence 
of  a  stranger,  better  equipped  race  is  an  incentive  to 
progress  and  an  example  of  a  goal  to  be  attained  even 

100 


by  imitation  if  not  by  originality.  But  the  American 
Negro  is  yet  more  positively,  tangibly  indebted  to  the 
white  man.  The  leading  Negro  schools  in  the  south 
and  other  parts  of  the  country  are  supported  not  so 
much  by  the  Negro's  own  efforts  or  by  state  grants  as 
by  the  gifts  of  philanthropists  at  the  North.  What- 
ever has  been  done  to  uplift  the  Haitians  is  the  work 
of  the  Haitians  themselves.  Their  best  compares  very 
favorably  with  what  the  American  Negro  has  done 
with  the  aid  of  the  white  man.  Their  worst  is  no  worse 
than  the  worst  in  the  American  Negro — for  it  is  not 
to  be  supposed  that  the  plantation  laborer  in  Missis- 
sippi is  any  less  superstitious  than  the  Haitian  peasant. 
But  the  Yazoo  Negro  is  advancing.  The  Haitian  black 
should  not  remain  stationary. 

M.  Antenor  Firmin,  one  of  the  most  enlightened 
Haitians,  declares  that  his  country  "can  never  attain 
its  destiny  without  the  sincere  co-operation  of  the  mu- 
latto and  the  black  man."  I  would  add,  "and  the 
white."  The  white  man  was  self-excluded  from  Haiti. 
All  the  Negroes  of  S'Domingue  wanted  freedom,  some 
wanted  political  recognition,  and  a  few  wanted  inde- 
pendence. None  wanted  to  exclude  the  white  man. 
The  great  Toussaint's  object  was  to  make  Haiti  a  coun- 
try where  "all  men  are  born,  live,  and  die  free  and 
French ; 

"Every  man,  whatever  be  his  color,  is  admissible  to 
any  employment ; 

"There  exists  no  distinction  but  that  of  virtue  and 
ability,  nor  superiority  other  than  that  which  the  law 
gives  in  the  discharge  of  a  public  duty." 

101 


GEN.    HENRI    CHRISTOPHE 

[From  rare  old  prints.] 

By  their  treatment  of  their  best  friend  among  the 
blacks,  the  French  showed  that  this  arrangement  was 
unsatisfactory  to  themselves.  Under  Dessalines, 
white  men,  irrespective  of  their  nationality,  could  not 
acquire  real  estate  in  the  country.  But  this  applied 
only  to  slave-holding  nations,  for  an  exception  was 
made  in  the  case  of  "Germans  and  Poles  naturalized 
by  the  government.  At  the  present  time  the  only  peo- 
ple prohibited  from  residing  in  Haiti  are  the  Syrian 
peddlers,  who,  profiting  by  the  repeal  of  the  law  of 
Dessalines,  were  so  usurious  in  their  business  relations 
with  the  common  people  that  the  government  expelled 
them  and  forbade  their  further  immigration. 

102 


Now  that  Haiti  no  longer  fears  the  power  of  slavery, 
she  freely  opens  her  ports  to  foreign  trade  and  immi- 
gration. She  invites  the  capital  to  develop  her  resour- 
ces, she  welcomes  the  merchants,  the  farmers.  But 
they  must  do  business  on  the  profit-sharing  plan.  They 
must  be  willing  to  give  an  honest  return  for  what  they 
receive.  The  teacher  should  accompany  the  planter 
and  the  engineer.  The  laborer  should  grow  rich — in- 
tellectually, morally,  economically  rich — as  well  as  the 


GEN.  JEAN   PETION 
[From  rare  old  prints.] 

103 


concessionaire.  The  new  Haiti  should  be  for  the  new 
Haitian,  white  or  brown  or  black. 

But  no  permanent  progress  can  be  made  towards  the 
ideal  of  Toussaint  so  long  as  the  Haitians  continue 
this  practice  of  self-destruction  which,  they  think,  is 
necessary  to  the  preservation  of  their  liberty.  It  is  the 
duty  of  civilization  to  put  an  end  to  internecine  strife 
in  the  black  republic.  No  nation  is  better  qualified  to 
make  a  move  in  this  direction  than  the  United  States. 
It  is  idle  to  talk  of  annexation.  The  best  of  the 
Haitians  are  certainly  no  better  than  the  best  of  the 
Filipinos,  and  some  Haitians  are  but  little  superior  to 
the  Igorrotes.  But  even  if  the  American  imperialists 
were  willing  to  increase  the  duties  of  the  Bureau  of 
Insular  Affairs,  the  Secretary  of  War  would  probably 
find  that  Haitian  generals  had  not  worn  their  gold 
braid  for  nothing  The  cost  of  a  protracted  guerilla 
warfare  in  the  "country  of  mountains"  could  be  saved 
to  the  United  States  and  Haitian  fields  would  have  the 
service  of  arms  which  should  even  now  exchange  the 
rifle  for  the  plow,  if  a  court  such  as  the  Supreme  Court 
of  Central  America  were  established  in  Hispaniola. 

This  court  should  settle  all  disputes  between  Haiti 
and  the  Dominican  Republic  and,  what  is  far  more  im- 
portant, should  have  jurisdiction  over  all  revolutionary 
disturbances  within  the  republics.  The  court  should 
consist  of  one  or  two  representatives  of  each  republic, 
the  Minister  of  the  United  States,  and  the  Minister  of 
one  European  country  chosen  by  each  of  the  contend- 
ing parties.  Haitian  revolutionaries  often  have  real 
causes  of  complaint,  and  the  decisions  of  this  court 
should  be  firmly  upheld  by  the  United  States  and  the 
other  powers. 

This  international  protectorate  would  enable  the  Hai- 
tians to  make  a  better  use  of  their  independence  than 

104 


they  have  as  yet.  It  would  insure  them  the  peace 
which  is  absolutely  essential  to  their  prosperity.  The 
United  States  has  secured  the  co-operation  of  the  whole 
world  in  the  effort  to  prevent  Castro  from  returning  to 
his  native  land  to  disturb  the  peaceful  progress  of  Ven- 
equela.  It  is  for  the  United  States  to  take  the  initiative 
in  securing  peace  for  Haiti. 

JAMES  B.  CLARKE. 


105 


JAMES  B.  CLARKE,  CLASS  '12 
CORNELL  UNIVERSITY 


James  B.  Clarke  is  the  young  student  of  Cornell 
University,  who  quite  recently  came  into  deserved 
fame,  because  of  his  championship  of  the  cause  of  the 
the  colored  co-eds  who  had  been  refused  entertainment 
in  Sage  Hall,  a  dormitory  set  aside  and  endowed  for  all 
co-eds,  irrespective  of  race,  color  or  class  standing. 
Mr.  Clarke  was  born  at  Saint  Vincent,  B.  W.  I.,  in 
1888,  and  received  his  preparatory  training  at  the 
Grammar  School  in  that  island.  In  1908  he  entered 
the  College  of  Arts  and  Sciences  at  Cornell  University, 
Ithaca,  New  York. 

In  the  last  annual  competition  of  the  National  Society 
of  French  Professors  in  America,  Clarke  led  fifty- 
seven  students  of  French  by  obtaining  the  first  prize 
for  translation,  first  prize  for  French  writing  and  the 
first  honor  prize,  the  medal  of  the  society,  for  general 
excellence. 

Clarke  is  a  member  of  the  societies  "Les  Cabotins" 
and  "L'  Alliance  Francaise,"  and  he  has  spoken  before 
the  latter  on  the  French  West  Indies  and  on  Haiti.  He 
is  a  close  student  of  modern  languages,  speaking  flu- 
ently and  teaching  Spanish,  French  and  Italian.  Dur- 
ing a  vacation  he  spent  at  Geneva,  N.  Y.,  he  had  sev- 
eral New  York  "schoolmarms"  his  students  in  the  lat- 
ter language. 

In  fact,  Clarke  divides  his  interest  between  the  study 
106 


of  modern  languages  and  problems  of  racial  and  inter- 
national relations.  His  articles,  which  attracted  world- 
wide attention,  on  "Race  Prejudice  at  Cornell,"  which 
appeared  in  the  Cornell  Era,  and  a  letter  addressed  to 
the  President  and  Board  of  Trustees  appealing  to  them 
not  to  establish  racial  discrimination  at  Cornell  by  ex- 
cluding colored  girls  from  the  women's  dormitory 
brought  forth  President  Schurmans'  exceedingly  strong 
declaration  that  at  Cornell  all  University  doors  must 
remain  open  to  all  students  irrespective  of  race  or  color, 
or  creed  or  social  standing  or  pecuniary  condition." 

Clarke  is  associate  editor  of  The  Cosmopolitan  Stud- 
ent, the  organ  of  the  Association  of  Cosmopolitan 
Clubs  of  America,  and  is  an  esteemed  member  of  the 
American  Academy  of  Political  and  Social  science. 
Time — he  actually  finds  time  to  assist  in  securing  a 
building  fund  for  The  Harriet  Tubman  Home,  not 
only  to  provide  a  suitable  home  for  the  centenarian, 
whose  illustrious  name  the  home  bears,  but  to  shelter 
other  deserving  aged  members  of  the  colored  race. 

Clarke  comes  from  a  good  stock,  his  father,  two 
uncles  and  still  another  relative  are  Anglican  ministers, 
one  of  them  an  Oxonian.  Clarke,  it  is  said,  at  one 
time  seriously  meditated  taking  Orders  in  a  Roman 
Catholic  seminary,  at  this  time,  it  is  also  said  it  was 
his  ambition  to  become  a  student  of  the  Propaganda  at 
Rome.  His  "second-thought"  is  considered  by  those 
who  know  him  best,  is  a  source  of  satisfaction  to  his 
race,  that  there  was  not  lost  to  secular  life  one  whose 
extraordinary  mental  gifts  should  make  him  the  strong- 
est individual  educational  force  the  race  possesses  in 
America  today. 

Clarke  will  go  forward,  and  in  his  strides  toward 
his  goal,  will  draw  thinking  men  after  him.  Well  may 
the  question  be  asked,  is  the  Hugo  born  who  will  so 

107 


plead  the  cause  of  down-trodden  humanity,  that  the 
World  will  be  stirred  to  Justice  and  Compassion. 

WM.  EDGAR  EASTON. 

CHRONOLOGY  OF  HAYTI 

Island  of  Santo  Domingo,  or  New  Hispaniola,  dis- 
covered by  Christopher  Columbus,  and  settled  by  Span- 
ish, 1492  A.  D. 

Jan.  1st,  1804,  Proclamation  at  Gonaives,  by  Dessa- 
lines,  the  Proclamation  terminated  with  the  words : 
"forever  to  renounce  France,  and  die  rather  than  live 
under  her  domination." 

Dessalines  murdered  in  1805. 

Christophe  proclaimed  King  in  1811. 

Petion  died  in  1818. 

Boyer  President  in  1818. 

Christophe  suicide  in  1819. 

Boyer  indemity  to  France  £3,600,000,  1825. 

Boyer  indemnity  to  France  reduced  to  £2,400,000, 
1835. 

Boyer  indemnity  to  France,  per  year  £80,000. 

England  acknowledges  Independence  in  1825. 

Mulatto  Insurrection  under  Herard-Riviere,  1843. 

Boyer  abdicated  after  25  years,  1843,  in  March. 

Popular    army    entered     Port-au-Prince,     General 

Dalzon,  decided  to  put  to  Death  all  Mulattos. 

1843,  the  separating  of  the  East  end  of  Island. 

Constitutional  Assembly  December,  1843.  Herard- 
Riviere  declared  President  of  Haiti. 

Dominicans  Independence  declared  Feb.,  1844. 

Herard  deposed  in  four  months'  time. 

Guerrer  deposed  in  one  month's  time. 

Massacre  of  Mulattoes,  Spring  of  1849,  in  South 
Haiti,  under  President  Soulouque. 

Soulouque,  Emperor,  August  9th,  1849. 
108 


He  created  four  Princes,  59  Dukes,  innumerable 
Marquises,  Counts  and  Barons. 

185 —  England,  France  and  U.  S.,  offer  diplomatic 
courses.  Crowned  Soulouque  Emperor,  1852,  as 
Faustian  I. 

Soulouque  defeated  by  the  Dominicans  in  Jan.,  1859. 

Soulouque  abdicated  January  15th,  1859. 

Geffard,  President. 

1861,  Dominica  proclaimed  Spanish  colony. 

Dominica  declared  Republic  in  1861. 

General  Geffard  administration,  January  15th,  1859. 

The  following  Presidents  are  in  the  order :  Salnave, 
Nissage  Saget,  Domingue,  Bois  Canal,  Salomon,  Legi- 
time,  Hippolyte,  Sam,  Alexis  Nord,  Sam — and  at  this 
date  LaConte.  The  Congress  of  Haiti  appropriated 
$100,000  for  the  Exhibit  of  the  country's  resources 
at  the  World's  Fair  of  Chicago,  111.,  1893. 


109 


TOUSSAINT  L'OUVERTURE 

(From  the  Oration  of  Wendell  Phillips.) 

"Toussaint  L'Ouverture,  who  has  been  pronounced 
one  of  the  greatest  statesmen  and  generals  of  the 
Nineteenth  Century,  saved  his  master  and  family  by 
hurrying  them  on  board  a  vessel  at  the  insurrection 
of  the  negroes  of  Hayti.  He  then  joined  the  negro 
army,  and  soon  found  himself  at  their  head.  Napo- 
leon sent  a  fleet  with  French  veterans,  with  orders  to 
bring  him  to  France  at  all  hazards.  But  all  the  skill 
of  the  French  soldiers  could  not  subdue  the  negro 
army,  and  they  finally  made  a  treaty,  placing  Toussaint 
L'Ouverture  governor  of  the  island.  The  negroes  no 
sooner  disbanded  their  army  than  a  squad  of  soldiers 
seized  Toussaint  by  night,  and  taking  him  on  board  a 
vessel,  hurried  him  to  France.  There  he  was  placed 
in  a  dungeon  and  finally  starved  to  death. 

"If  I  were  to  tell  you  the  story  of  Napoleon  I  should 
take  it  from  the  lips  of  Frenchmen,  who  find  no  lan- 
guage rich  enough  to  paint  the  great  captain  of  the 
Nineteenth  Century.  Were  I  to  tell  you  the  story  of 
Washington  I  should  take  it  from  your  hearts — you 
who  think  no  marble  white  enough  on  which  to  carve 
the  name  of  the  Father  of  his  Country.  But  I  am  to 
tell  you  the  story  of  a  negro,  Toussaint  L'Ouverture, 
who  has  left  hardly  one  written  line.  I  am  to  glean  it 
from  the  reluctant  testimony  of  his  enemies,  men  who 
despised  him  because  he  was  a  negro  and  a  slave ; 
hated  him  because  he  had  beaten  them  in  battle. 

"Cromwell  manufactured  his  own  army.     Napoleon 

110 


at  the  age  of  twenty-seven,  was  placed  at  the  head  of 
the  best  troops  Europe  ever  saw.  Cromwell  never  saw 
an  army  tell  he  was  forty;  this  man  never  saw  a  sol- 
dier till  he  was  fifty.  Cromwell  manufactured  his  own 
army — out  of  what?  Englishmen — the  best  blood  in 
Europe.  Out  of  the  middle  class  of  Englishmen — the 
best  blood  of  the  island.  And  with  it  he  conquered 
what?  Englishmen — their  equals.  This  man  manu- 
factured his  army  out  of  what?  Out  of  what  you  call 
the  despicable  race  of  negroes,  debased,  demoralized 
by  two  hundred  years  of  slavery,  one  hundred  thou- 
sand of  them  imported  into  the  island  within  four 
years,  unable  to  speak  a  dialect  intelligible  even  to  eacH 
other.  Yet  out  of  this  mixed  and,  as  you  say,  despica- 
ble mass  he  forged  a  thunderbolt  and  hurled  it  at 
what  ?  At  the  proudest  blood  in  Europe,  the  Spaniard, 
and  sent  him  home  conquered;  at  the  most  warlike 
blood  in  Europe,  the  French,  and  put  them  under  his 
feet;  at  the  pluckiest  blood  in  Europe,  the  English, 
and  they  skulked  home  to  Jamaica.  Now,  if  Cromwell 
was  a  general,  at  least  this  man  was  a  soldier. 

"Now,  blue-eyed  Saxon,  proud  of  your  race,  go 
back  with  me  to  the  commencement  of  the  century  and 
select  what  statesman  you  please.  Let  him  be  either 
American  or  European ;  let  him  have  a  brain  the  result 
of  six  generations  of  culture;  let  him  have  the  ripest 
training  of  university  routine;  let  him  add  to  it  the 
better  education  of  practical  life;  crown  his  temples 
with  the  silver  locks  of  seventy  years,  and  show  me  the 
man  of  Saxon  lineage  for  whom  his  most  sanguine 
admirer  will  wreathe  a  laurel  rich  as  embittered  foes 
have  placed  on  the  brow  of  this  negro — rare  military 
skill,  profound  knowledge  of  human  nature,  content  to 
blot  out  all  party  distinction,  and  trust  a  state  to  the 
blood  of  its  sons — anticipating  Sir  Robert  Peel  fifty 

111 


years,  and  taking  his  station  by  the  side  of  Roger  Wil- 
liams, before  any  Englishman  or  American  had  won 
the  right;  and  yet  this  is  the  record  which  the  history 
of  rival  states  makes  up  for  this  inspired  black  of  St. 
Domingo. 

"Some  doubt  the  courage  of  the  negro.  Go  to  Hayti 
and  stand  on  those  50,000  graves  of  the  best  soldiers 
France  ever  had,  and  ask  them  what  they  think  of  the 
negro's  sword.  I  would  call  him  Napoleon,  but  Napo- 
loen  made  his  way  to  empire  over  broken  oaths  and 
through  a  sea  of  blood.  This  man  never  broke  his 
word.  I  would  call  him  Cromwell,  but  Cromwell  was 
only  a  soldier,  and  the  state  he  founded  went  down 
with  him  into  his  grave.  I  would  call  him  Washing- 
ton, but  the  great  Virginian  held  slaves.  This  man 
risked  his  empire  rather  than  permit  the  slave  trade 
in  the  humblest  village  of  his  dominions. 

"You  think  me  a  fanatic,  for  you  read  history,  not 
with  your  eyes  but  with  your  prejudices.  But  fifty 
years  hence,  when  Truth  gets  a  hearing,  the  Muse  of 
history  will  put  Phocion  for  the  Greek,  Brutus  for  the 
Roman,  Hampden  for  England,  Fayette  for  France, 
choose  Washington  as  the  bright  consummate  flower 
of  our  earlier  civilization,  then,  dipping  her  pen  in  the 
sunlight,  will  write  in  the  clear  blue,  above  them  all, 
the  name  of  the  soldier,  the  statesman,  the  martyr, 
Toussaint  L'Ouverture." 


112 


Harriet    Tubman,     as    She    Appears  Today,   Over  100  Years  Old 


113 


AN  HOUR  WITH  HARRIET  TUBMAN 

Harriet  Tubman,  the  Moses  of  the  Negro  bondsmen 
of  the  South,  counsellor  and  associate  of  John  Brown, 
scout  and  spy  and  nurse  in  the  Union  Army,  is  quietly 
rounding  out  a  long  and  useful  life  in  the  Home  for 
aged  colored  people  which  she  founded  and  which 
bears  her  name. 

Like  most  Americans  who  have  had  to  choose  their 
own  surnames,  Harriet  must  also  fix  the  date  of  her 
birth.  But  this  was  so  long  ago  that  she  cannot,  like 
Booker  T.  Washington  and  others  who  were  born  in 
slavery,  dispense  with  day  and  month  and  claim  one 
of  two  years.  If  she  did,  it  would  probably  be  1811 
or  1812,  for  before  the  enactment  of  the  Fugitive 
Slave  Law,  she  had  already  become  an  experienced 
and  intrepid  conductor  of  the  Underground  Railroad. 

"I  remember,"  she  said,  "once  after  I  had  brought 
some  colored  people  from  the  South,  I  went  up  to 
Peterboro  to  the  Big  House.  Gerrit  Smith's  son, 
Greene,  was  going  hunting  with  his  tutor  and  some 
other  boys.  I  had  no  shoes.  It  was  a  Saturday  after- 
noon and  —  would  you  believe  it  ?  —  those  boys  went 
right  off  to  the  village  and  got  me  a  pair  of  shoes  so 
I  could  go  with  them." 

In  those  days  Harriet  was  equally  skilled  with  the 
gun  or  the  hoe,  in  the  laundry  or  the  kitchen.  Until 
recently  she  possessed  enough  of  her  "old-time  energy 
to  keep  house  and  entertain  her  friends — the  old  and 
sick  and  homeless — in  the  little  cottage  by  the  road, 
just  outside  of  Auburn,  N.  Y.,  which  she  purchased 
from  Secretary  Seward.  Her  failing  strength  has 

115 


obliged  her  to  share  with  four  or  five  old  women  the 
modest  home  that  she  had  established  on  the  adjoining 
land.  But,  in  spite  of  her  advanced  age,  she  is  not 
ready  to  be  oslerized.  On  the  day  of  my  visit  she  had 
without  assistance  gone  down  stairs  to  breakfast,  and 
I  saw  her  eat  a  dinner  that  would  tax  the  stomach  of 
a  gourmand.  A  friend  had  sent  her  a  spring  chicken 
and  had  the  pleasure  of  seeing  it  placed  before  her 
with  rice  and  pie  and  cheese  and  other  good  things. 
"Never  mind  me,"  Aunt  Harriet  replied  to  the  friend's 
remark  that  the  conversation  was  interfering  with  the 
dinner,  "I'll  eat  all  you  give  me,  but  I  want  you  to  have 
some  of  this  chicken  first."  And  when  the  lady  pro- 
tested that  she  was  not  hungry,  but  would  taste  the 
rice,  Aunt  Harriet  extended  her  hospitable  invitation 
to  another  visitor  to  share  her  favorite  viand.  She  re- 
sented the  suggestion  that  someone  should  feed  her. 
She  only  wanted  the  nurse  to  cut  the  chicken  and 
place  the  tray  on  her  lap. 

Although  her  face  is  furrowed  and  her  hand  has  lost 
its  one-time  vigor,  Harriet  Tubman's  mind  is  astonish- 
ingly fresh  and  active.  She  not  only  remembers  things 
that  happened  when  most  people's  grandmothers  were 
little  girls;  she  has  the  newspapers  read  to  her  and 
she  follows  with  great  interest  the  important  events  of 
the  day.  Hearing  of  the  coronation  of  King  George  V, 
she  requested  Miss  Anne  F.  Miller,  the  granddaughter 
of  Gerrit  Smith,  to  send  her  congratulations  to  the 
king,  whose  grandmother,  the  late  Queen  Victoria,  sent 
a  medal  and  a  letter  to  the  old  Negro  woman  who  had 
brought  so  many  of  her  people  to  the  free  soil  of 
Canada. 

No  such  medal  or  letter  is  mentioned  in  the  biog- 
raphy of  Harriet  Tubman,  so  Miss  Miller  visited  her 
to  obtain  further  information  about  this  mark  of  ap- 

116 


preciation  from  the  "Great  White  Mother,"  as  Queen 
Victoria  was  affectionately  called  by  her  black  sub- 
jects in  Africa.  Aunt  Harriet  said:  "It  was  when  the 
queen  had  been  on  the  throne  sixty  years,  she  sent  me 
the  medal.  It  was  a  silver  medal,  about  the  size  of  a 
dollar.  It  showed  the  queen  and  her  family.  The  let- 
ter said,  'I  read  your  book  to  Her  Majesty,  and  she  was 
pleased  with  it.  She  sends  you  this  medal/  She  also 
invited  me  to  come  over  for  her  birthday  party,  but  I 
didn't  know  enough  to  go.  The  letter  was  worn  to  a 
shadow,  so  many  people  read  it.  It  got  lost,  somehow 
or  other.  Then  I  gave  the  medal  to  my  brother's 
daughter  to  keep." 

I  afterward  found,  on  inquiring  at  the  home  of  her 
neice,  that  Aunt  Harriet  had  made  no  mistake  in  de- 
scribing the  medal.  It  is  of  silver  and  bears  the  like- 
nesses of  Queen  Victoria,  her  son,  grandson  and  great 
grandson,  the  present  Prince  of  Wales.  Such  medals 
were  circulated  throughout  the  British  Empire  in  com- 
memoration of  the  Diamond  Jubilee  of  Queen  Victoria 
in  1897,  but  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  the  queen  per- 
sonally directed  one  to  be  sent  to  Harriet  Tubman, 
whose  "book"  had  been  read  to  her.  This  explains  why 
this  token  from  the  greatest  white  woman  of  the  nine- 
teenth century  is  not  mentioned  in  the  biography  of  the 
greatest  black  woman,  for  the  book  of  Harriet  Tub- 
man, by  Mrs.  S.  H.  Bradford,  closes  with  the  Civil 
War. 

Satisfied  that  her  honored  friend  had  reasonable 
ground  to  congratulate  the  grandson  of  Queen  Victoria 
on  his  coronation,  Miss  Miller  assured  Aunt  Harriet 
that  she  would  send  a  letter  to  the  King  of  England, 
but  that  she  would  ask  me  to  write  it  for,  as  a  British 
subject  from  the  West  Indies,  I  might  be  more  familiar 
with  the  proper  form  of  address.  And  Aunt  Harriet 

117 


immediately  replied,  "I  know  where  he  came  from  as 
soon  as  I  heard  him  speak." 

Aunt  Harriet's  ready  wit  is  one  of  her  most  pleasing 
qualities.  Wishing  to  make  her  an  honorary  member 
of  the  Geneva  Political  Equality  Club,  Miss  Millet- 
said,  "I  remember  seeing  you  years  ago  at  a  suffrage 
convention  in  Rochester." 

"Yes,"  the  old  woman  affirmed,  "I  belonged  to  Miss 
Sus'n  B.  Antony's  'sociation." 

"I  should  like  to  enroll  you  as  a  life  member  of  our 
Geneva  Club.  Our  motto  is  Lincoln's  declaration:  4I 
go  for  all  sharing  the  privileges  of  the  government  who 
assist  in  bearing  its  burdens,  by  no  means  excluding 
women.'  You  certainly  have  assisted  in  bearing  the 
burden.  Do  you  really  believe  that  women  should 
vote?" 

Aunt  Harriet  paused  a  moment  as  if  surprised  at 
this  question,  then  quietly  replied,  "I  suffered  enough 
to  believe  it." 

When  Miss  Miller  asked  her  full  name  she  answered 
in  solemnly  measured  tones,  "Harriet  Tubman  Davis." 

"Shall  I  write  it  with  or  without  Mrs.  ?" 

"Anyway  you  like,  jus'  so  you  git  der  Tubman"  the 
old  woman  responded. 

Aunt  Harriet  proved  by  this  answer  that  she  is  a 
good  suffragette  and  an  independent,  self-assertive 
woman.  Tubman,  not  Davis,  was  the  name  of  the 
woman  who  raided  southern  plantations  and  led  away 
slaves,  often  at  the  point  of  the  gun,  to  freedom  at  the 
North.  Tubman  was  the  name  of  the  woman  who 
nursed  the  wounded  negro  soldiers,  who  broke  through 
the  Confederate  lines  bearing  messages  to  Shaw  and 
Hunter  and  Gilmore,  never  hesitating  to  risk  her  life  in 

118 


Harriet    Tubman,    Union    Scout,    Spy   and   Nurs'e,    1831 

119 


the  cause  of  human  freedom  and  in  the  service  of  her 
country.  This  woman  does  not  wish  the  name  under 
which  she  did  her  great  work  to  be  obscured  or  for- 
gotten. 

One  of  the  exploits  in  which  Harriet  Tubman  took 
part  during  the  Civil  War  was  the  bringing  of  eight 
hundred  slaves  to  the  headquarters  of  the  Federal  army 
at  Beaufort,  S.  C.  These  people  had  been  unwilling  to 
leave  the  plantations,  for  they  mistrusted  the  Yankee 
strangers  even  more  than  they  feared  their  southern 
masters.  The  Federal  commander,  wishing  to  cut  off 
the  supplies  of  the  Confederates,  sent  an  expedition  up 
the  Combahee  River  to  sack  the  plantations  in  that  re- 
gion. The  expedition  was  commanded  by  Colonel 
Montgomery,  and  Harriet,  with  a  few  colored  soldiers, 
was  sent  to  round  up  the  slaves.  When  the  colonel 
saw  this  motley  throng  of  frightened  black  Israelites, 
he  told  their  Moses  to  give  them  a  "word  of  consola- 
tion." And  with  all  the  emotional  fervor  of  her  Afri- 
can nature  the  centenarian  Amazon  sang  the  words 
that  reassured  and  consoled  her  bewildered  followers : 
"Come  along,  come  along,  and  don't  be  fool', 
Uncle  Sam  rich  enough  to  sen'  us  all  to  school ; 
Come  along,  come  along,  don't  be  alarm', 
Uncle  Sam  rich  enough  to  give  us  all  a  farm." 
At  the  refrain  "come  along,"  Aunt  Harriet  waved 
her  withered  arm  with  an  imperious  gesture.  After 
nearly  fifty  years  it  had  not  lost  its  appeal.  To  illus- 
trate the  effect  of  her  song  upon  the  slaves  who  first 
heard  it,  the  African  Joan  clapped  her  hands  and 
thumped  her  feet  upon  the  floor.  And  the  old  woman's 
wrinkles  shared  the  pleasant  memory  of  this  splendid 
achievement  as  she  smiled  and  said,  "I  done  it  dat 
time,  but  I  don't  t'ink  I  coulda  done  it  ag'in." 

Harriet  Tubman  has  long  been  waiting  for  Uncle 
121 


Sam  to  fulfill  the  promises  which  she  made  to  her  fol- 
lowers. As  her  own  book-knowledge  was  acquired 
wholly  out  of  school  and  consists  of  passages  from  the 
Bible  which  have  been  read  and  expounded  in  her 
hearing,  she  has  not  been  able  to  hasten  the  educa- 
tional millenium  of  black  Uncle  Sam.  But  she  has 
anticipated  the  free  farm  by  giving  up  her  own  prop- 
erty to  provide  a  home,  small  and  ill-equipped  as  it  is, 
for  the  aged  and  infirm  of  her  race.  Her  life  has 
been  one  long  "word  of  consolation"  and  inspiration 
to  her  people.  Her  song  is  well-nigh  ended.  But  when 
her  voice  is  forever  stilled,  her  soul,  like  the  soul  of 
him  whom  she  calls  her  dearest  friend,  will  yet  be 
"marching  on."  For  Harriet  Tubman's  soul — the  spirit 
of  progress,  the  determination  to  rise  above  the  weight 
of  oppression  and  injustice  and  breathe  the  free  air  of 
opportunity — is  deeply  rooted  in  the  people  for  whom 
she  has  lived  and  worked. 

JAMES  B.  CLARKE. 


• 


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YB   14533 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA  LIBRARY 


